


The Safe House

by The_Mishamigo



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: But Friendly-wise, Gen, Identity Reveal, Peter Parker Has Panic Attacks, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Secret Identity, Slow Burn, Sorta Slow, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Well - Freeform, safe house
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 26,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27926899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Mishamigo/pseuds/The_Mishamigo
Summary: After a threat is made against all the Avengers (and Spiderman), they all must go into a safe house. Tony is put into one with Spiderman, but the problem is that he has no idea who the man is. This was going to be great.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 173
Kudos: 514





	1. The First Days

**Author's Note:**

> and another fic, why do i love starting news ones before finishing old ones :-/////

“Nope!” Tony said, shaking his head at the man in front of him. 

Nick Fury sighed at Tony, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He didn’t need to shout at the man now (as much as he wanted to). He knew that getting Tony on board with the idea wasn’t going to be easy. Tony was one of the most stubborn men he had ever met. Fury shrugged, adjusting his jacket with a scowl. “Stark, this is not debatable. A massive threat has been made; Steve was heavily injured just last week. You either go into a safe house or die.”

“Is that last one an option?” Tony said. “Look, Fury, I’m not going into hiding. What’s the point of getting a team together full of the earth-mightiest-heroes if you’re not going to let them fight back?”

“Please, Stark.” Fury sighed. Tony was exasperating, he thought. “It will only be for as long as it takes for us to find him.”

“I know your track record, Fury. It could take years for all I know. I’m not spending time in a small house alone for that long. I need to spend time with others. Like, for example, my lab and my robots.” Tony explained. 

“Oh. You won’t be alone. All of you have been partnered up with another team member. Steve and Bucky, Nat and Clint, Thor and Bruce…” Fury said, not wanting to tell Tony who he was with to not put him off. 

“And me?” 

Fury sighed. “Spiderman.”

“Spiderman?! We don’t even know who he is! He’s not even an Avenger!” Tony snapped, staring at the kid through the clear glass of the office. The vigilante was sat down on an armchair, the eyes of his mask wide as it looked at the interior. 

“He was included in the threat.”

“So?! No, Fury. I’m not doing this, there is no way!”

One week later, Tony found himself saying goodbye to Pepper. He hugged her, kissing her on the cheek, and frowned as he was escorted down to one of Shield’s cars. They parked up at an underground bunker. Tony groaned as they made him climb down. He took one last look at the fresh air before he walked down to the rooms. 

It was an impressive space if you weren’t Tony Stark. There was a large kitchen, with more than enough space for two people. A dining room was attached to the left side, with bookcases lined up against the wall. Further down the hallway, there were a few rooms. Tony was the biggest (that had been one of his requests) and each room had a big ensuite. The living room had a large TV and one big corner sofa. Whoever this bunker was built for wanted to live in luxury still. 

One hour later, Tony was sat on the sofa reading a book when he heard some commotion from down the hallway. He froze for a second before remembering that this meant ‘Spiderman’ was arriving. The masked hero walked down the hallway with a bunch of bags and Tony saw that he was still wearing the mask around his face. Tony rolled his eyes. He didn’t know how long he was going to last before snapping at his house mate. 

Peter sat in the big room. This was supposed to be a safe house, not a luxury hotel. The room was almost the same size of his room at home doubled. When he was told he had to move into a safe house, he was terrified. He thought he would have to tell May about his alter-ego, but SHIELD told him they came up with a cover story. Whatever that was, he didn’t know. However, he really hoped it had worked. 

He walked into the bathroom and his eyes sparkled. Oh, he couldn’t wait to tell Ned about all of this. His face faltered into a frown as he remembered he wasn’t allowed to contact his best friend from now on. Luckily, he still had someone to talk to. That someone was none other than THE Tony Stark. His hero. The one and only. He couldn’t wait to ask him about all his technological advancements. 

Tony had turned his attention away from the book when he saw the kid at the door. He frowned as the man walked in, taking a seat on the opposite side of the sofa. “Nice to meet you, hey?” Tony mumbled. He stared at the mask. “You know, Spidey. We’re going to be around each other for god knows how long so this ‘secret identity’ thing is sort of redundant. You can’t wear that mask for this long. It’ll stink and I really don’t want some stinky housemate.”

“No can do, Mr Stark.” Peter shook his head, happy that the mask hid his blush. “I don’t want my family to be in danger.”

“How nice,” Tony rolled his eyes. “And how does that affect me from finding out? I’m Tony Stark. Who am I going to tell? My AI?”

“The media? You did it yourself, Mr Stark. I can’t risk it.” Peter said, hoping Tony would take the first bit as a joke.

Tony shrugged. “Keep it to yourself then.” His lip quirked up into a smile before he could help it. “You do make a good point there, I’m not so good at secrets. Can I at least get a name?”

Peter sighed, thinking about what to say. He looked down to his feet and then back up at Tony who was expecting a reply. “My name is Benjamin. Everyone calls me Ben.”

Tony looked at him. “Sure. I don’t believe you. That hesitation isn’t something that usually happens when you introduce yourself. However, I can’t be bothered to keep asking you. I might as well indulge in your lie.” Tony put a handout for Peter to shake. “Nice to meet you, Benny.”

“It’s good to meet you too, Mr Stark.” Peter grinned, taking his hand.

“Mr Stark? How old are you?” Tony said, letting go of the handshake. “Never mind, don’t answer that. I know what your answer is going to be. ‘Oh- b-but- my secret identity- ‘,” Tony mocked. He could almost see the embarrassed pout through the mask. He squinted his eyes. “Let’s just go with ‘young’.” 

“I-I’m not young!” Peter stuttered.

“You sound like a child.” Tony said, relaxing back into the pillows. “There’s Disney films here, did you know that? Should I put one on? Maybe it’ll lull you to sleep because you’re just a little kid.” He laughed slightly. 

“I think that’s just you wanting to watch one without getting embarrassed. You know that it’s okay to watch those films, right? It’s okay! You don’t have to get permission.” Peter said, trying to make Tony like him with some joking. He just hoped Tony would like it.

Tony laughed. “You’re funny, kid.”

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to be shut up with some random Spider, Tony thought.

He was wrong. 

When Tony walked into the kitchen at 2am because he couldn’t sleep, he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the vigilante stuck up on the ceiling. He stared for a minute. The kid’s mask was up slightly, as he chewed on an apple. 

“What the fuck?” Tony said. 

Peter’s eyes went wide. “Oh. You’re up.”

“Yes…?” Tony said, shaking his head. He took a seat on one of the barstools. “And so are you.”

“Couldn’t sleep.” Peter mumbled, jumping down from the ceiling. “I guess it’s the same for you.”

“Yeah lets not do this whole emotional sharing shit, Ben.” Tony said, walking over to the fridge. He picked up a beer bottle (another demand he had before accepting this situation) and opened it with his teeth. He took a big swig before looking over at the kid. “The mask smells.”

“I’ve only been wearing it for a few hours!”

“So? Still smells.” Tony rolled his eyes. He took another swig. 

“So does that beer.” Peter said.

“Want a sip? Are you even old enough to drink?” Tony laughed. “Yeah. Once again, don’t answer that. I don’t think some random teenager is going to swing around Queens in spandex.”

How wrong he is, Peter thought. He almost laughed. “Of course, I’m old enough to drink,” He crossed his arms. “I don’t like it, though. Burns.” Or so he had been told. 

“More for me, I guess,” Tony said. He finished off the bottle and took another one out. He sure hoped Fury would find this man quick as he wasn’t sure how he’d deal with this without beer in the fridge. 

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” Peter asked.

“Like I said, Benny, I’m not going to be emotional with you. I never even said I tired to sleep, either. That’s an assumption, kiddo. Maybe I don’t want to sleep.” He said, shaking his head. “Well, this has been nice, but I think that I’m going to go watch some TV. You should go to bed, you look tired.” 

Peter took a deep breath. This wasn’t going as well as he had hoped. He knew Tony didn’t want him around. “Goodnight, Mr Stark,” Peter said, walking over to the door. “You should sleep soon.”

“Sure.” Tony said as he watched the kid leave. 

He just wanted to be home.


	2. Hostile, Closed-Off and Sarcastic

Peter stared down at his hands as he sat on the side of his new bed. The bed had the most comfortable mattress he had ever been on, but nothing could make him comfortable here. They had only been here for twenty-four hours, but Tony had been nothing but hostile. Peter looked over to the door to make sure the door was locked and took the mask off his face. Getting up into the bathroom, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were red. He didn’t even realise he had been crying. 

Tony was sat on the sofa, again, staring at the TV screen. He didn’t even realise the time; he couldn’t see the light outside. He hadn’t slept (he knew that for sure), but he didn’t care. He played with the edge of his sleeve, staring at his naked wrist where his favourite watch usually was. They took it away from him when he came in just in case he tried to communicate with people on the outside. It was the only thing he had left from his mother and it had been ripped from him. 

Tony’s eyes blinked shut and he found himself falling asleep on the pillows against his back. As the sight of the TV faded away, it was replaced with the battle of New York. Tony stared at himself from a third-person perspective as he flew up into the wormhole. He stared for a few seconds. The portal shut, shutting Tony in. He was transported into the suit. Space surrounded him and he started to clutch at his throat. He struggled to breathe. Was that Pepper calling for him? He had abandoned her, left her to be alone but, wouldn’t that be better for her? She deserved better than him. 

Peter walked in the living room, the mask back on his face. Tony was laid across the sofa, stirring back and forth. He was clearly having a nightmare. Peter walked over and tried to wake him up but, Tony flinched back. Peter took a few steps back, eyes widening. “Mr Stark?!” He said, louder than usual. “Mr Stark- wake up!”

Tony opened his eyes, after only twenty minutes of sleep. He sat up quickly, staring at the man in front of him. He put a hand over his heart as he tried to steady his heartbeat. Peter could hear how quick it was. “Ben,” He mumbled. 

“Are you okay?”

“Fine,” Tony said, sitting up. “I was just dreaming that we were out of this shithole, I was having the time of my life before you woke me up.” 

Peter narrowed his eyes. That was clearly a lie. “I don’t think-,”

“Don’t question your elders,” Tony said, standing up. “I thought I said we didn’t have to this emotional stuff, why do you insist on bringing it up?”

“I was just trying to help,” Peter said quietly, looking down at his feet. 

Tony looked at the kid, a twinge of guilt forming in his stomach for how small the boy looked. “Well, don’t.” He walked away, going down to his room that was directly opposite to Peter’s room. He opened the door and got into the bed. He couldn’t sleep, however. He wanted to be down into the lab, working on his suits, to get his mind away from it all but all of that was taken away from him the second he got down into the bunker. He wondered how well the rest of the team was doing… 

Peter groaned, sitting down in the spot that Tony had been in. He curled up into a ball, his knees falling to his chest. He put his head down to his knees and took a deep breath in to calm himself down. This wasn’t what meeting his hero was supposed to be like. When Nick Fury told him that he would be with Tony Stark, he immediately imagined that the two of them would be chatting about science and everything like it. Tony was the complete opposite when he was alone than the charismatic man he saw on panels and television. 

Tony walked into the kitchen to smell burning from the oven. He looked down to the other side, where the fridge was and saw Ben running around with different ingredients. “So, you decided to make dinner, huh? How’s it going?”

“Not very well. I don’t cook. I don’t think I ever have.” Peter frowned from behind the mask.

Tony chuckled quietly underneath his breath, staring at how the boy frantically chopped the garlic up, making it go everywhere. He walked up the counter and grabbed a spare knife from the draw. “Slow down.” He said, taking a piece of garlic that hadn’t been cut yet. “My mother taught me to crush it first, makes it easier to cut.”

Peter took another one and tried to follow what Tony did, although it didn’t turn out as good. “Do you cook at home?”

“Sometimes. Not as much as I’d like to. Too busy saving the world,” He winked, cutting the garlic up. “What are you trying to make?”

“Some homemade pizza,” Peter muttered, “I already tried once but that attempt is in the bin. My Uncle used to make it before he- well, uh, before I had to come in here.” 

Tony nodded. He noticed how the kid slipped up, presumably about to say something else. He didn’t think to press for more information, it was none of his business. He took a deep breath. “Need some help?”

“Yeah, that would be nice. Unless you’d like to eat cardboard then-,”

“Wait.” Tony stopped him. “You were trying to cook for me too?”

“Well, yeah?” Peter mumbled. “I wasn’t just going to keep everything for myself. I’ve already had my two lunches today so-. I have an enhanced metabolism, so I need to eat a lot, but even so- I wanted to make sure you got something to.”

Tony nodded again. He remained silent for a bit. That guilt for earlier crawled back up to his stomach and spread through his whole body. The kid was trying so hard to be nice to him, but Tony was harsh. He couldn’t help it, however. He couldn’t trust someone he knew nothing about, so he wasn’t about to spill all his deepest secrets. He never had told anyone before, and he wasn’t about to start now just because they were locked up together. 

He looked over to ‘Ben’ who was trying to roll the pizza dough out. “You’re doing good there.” He said, hoping to be a bit nicer to him. 

“Thank you. How come you’re so good at this?” Peter asked, staring at the pizza Tony was making that looked as good as Uncle Ben’s. 

“My mother… she-,” Tony stopped himself, finding it hard to speak about his parents. “It’s all science, Ben. And, I might have mentioned it before, I am a genius.” He looked over to where Peter was cooking and winced at the amount of garlic that he was putting on the dough. 

Peter looked over and noticed Tony’s face, frowning. “It’s not very good… is it?” He said a bit embarrassed at sad his voice sounded. He looked down at the pizza to pick it up and put it in the bin, telling Tony they’d go with his. Tony’s hand stopped him.

“No,” Tony lied. “Looks great. In fact, I think it is time to put them in the oven.” Tony told him, opening the oven door and putting their pizzas onto a tray. He closed the door, smiling slightly as he could almost see the smile on the boy’s face from underneath the ridiculous goggles. Tony stared at him for a few seconds and shook his head. “Can you even see me out of those? I think you need an upgrade-,”

“Yes.” Peter pouted. “I can,” 

“Of course,” Tony told him, laughing. “These should take up to twenty minutes so, uh, meet you here in a while?” Tony said, already planning to retreat to his bedroom. 

“Why don’t we-,” Peter tried to speak, wanting to have a longer conversation with Tony but he was already looking at the back of his head.

Tony put his hand up, waving. “See you later, Ben.” 

Peter sighed against the counter, propping his elbows up. He frowned, looking around at the four walls. He began to feel a bit trapped, missing the fresh air outside. He wished he could talk to Ned, explain to him what was happening. Ned’s eyes would go wide, he’d freak out more than he did after finding out Peter was Spiderman, and he’d ask Peter to tell him every detail about living with Tony Stark. Peter would lie, tell him it was amazing, that Tony was everything they thought he’d be and not the closed-off, hostile and sarcastic man he had turned out to be. 

Twenty minutes later, Tony did come back into the kitchen like he said he would. Peter opened the oven, got out the pizzas and put them up on the side. Peter’s pizza was significantly smaller than Tony’s, and it didn’t look good, but Peter almost felt proud of himself. It was better than May’s, at least. Tony cut slices for them both and put them on plates. They sat at the table awkwardly, eating in silence. 

“So, how is it?”

Tony finished eating a slice, one of Peter’s and nodded with a fake smile. “I think it tastes… nice. What do you think?”

“It’s terrible, Mr Stark. You don’t need to lie.”

Tony let out a little laugh, pushing his plate away. “Glad you said it. Jesus, kid. Where did you learn to cook?”

“I haven’t. My Aunt and I usually just get a takeaway as she does late shifts at the hospital. She’ll sometimes try and make us dinner, but it’s never good. She tries though.” Peter explained.

“You live with your aunt?” Tony asked. Peter nodded. “Don’t you think its time to move out? What are you, like... 25?”

“Well… not all of us are billionaires, Mr Stark,” Peter snapped. 

“It was just a suggestion. There is no need to get so twitchy with me, kid. We’re going to be here for a while, so I’d suggest that you calm down a little,” Tony said, an edge of annoyance in how he spoke. 

Peter shook his head with a laugh, standing up at the table. “Me? You’re telling me that?! You have been nothing but hostile with me ever since we moved in here. You’re the one that needs to get over themselves! I have tried to be nice to you, to make conversation, but you just walk out of the room and leave me standing there like an idiot! How dare you speak to me like I’m the one that needs to change their attitude. You know, Mr Stark, I always thought the tabloids were wrong about you but, in only two days you’ve proved me wrong. You’re exactly like they say you are.” Peter finished his rant, took a deep breath, and walked out of the room with a big frown stitched to his face. If he slammed his bedroom door with more force than needed, well- he thought it could be justified. 

Peter locked his door, jumped onto his bed and curled into the covers. He’d rather be outside of the bunker, his life threatened than stay here for much longer. He held a pillow close to his chair and sniffed, crying into the pillow. He wanted to be at home, eating May’s terrible food as she held him on the sofa. He’d call Ned before going to bed, listening to his best friend chatting about some new project he tried to complete. He closed his eyes and made a wish; he wished that he’d wake up to Nick Fury telling him the threat was gone. For now, he’d have to just lay here and cry until he fell asleep.


	3. Better than I thought

Tony stared at the kitchen door after Peter’s outburst. He frowned, the words Peter said hurt more than he thought they should. He sighed, standing up and walking to his own bedroom. He heard a faint nose coming from the kid. Tony imagined him curled up in bed, sobbing because of him. He didn’t usually care if he hurt people but, as he stood in front of the door with his hand raised to knock, he thought about why it was bothering him this much. Ben radiated an innocence to him. His hand fell, as did his face. He turned around and opened his own bedroom door, walking into the room.

Tony got into bed and tried to fall asleep, again. This was their second night and Tony got a grand total of only three hours of sleep. He got under the covers and stared up at the ceiling. He didn’t bare to close his eyes, yet. He looked to the side of him and hated the fact that he didn’t see Pepper. He only slept well if he had someone he trusted near-by. The bunker felt horrible. As much as the interior was modern and nice, he wanted to breathe in the fresh air outside. The proximity of a random stranger wasn’t something he appreciated right now. 

Peter woke up in a sweat, the memory of homecoming night haunting his brain. The feeling of the building on top of him reminded him that the walls around him were small. He looked around the room, sitting on top of the luxury bed sheet. He took three deep breaths, clenching the duvet cover. He thought about how Tony was in the other room, oblivious that Peter had crashed his plane to the ground. Peter still had scars from that night to remind him. He didn’t need the constant nightmares either, but they just kept coming. He got up, grabbed the mask, and walked to the kitchen. He looked at the clock on the wall. It was only 4am. He had only got five hours. Huh, at least that was a slight improvement from the night before. He looked over to the sink and saw the two plates from the night before. His chest felt funny as he thought about how he shouted at Tony. A rush of panic fell through him, making him drop the glass of water in his hand. 

Tony heard a massive smash, making his eyes go wide. He jumped up and ran to where the sound came from and saw Spidey-kid on the floor, blood on his hand. The kid was sobbing as he picked up the glass. Tony froze at the sight. “Woah, kid!” He finally said, pulling him away from the glass. He flinched back as ‘Ben’s’ hands went to hit him, his whole body reacting from Tony touching him. “I’m just trying to help, okay? You’re bleeding.” 

“Don’t touch me!” Peter sobbed out, “Please.” 

“Okay,” Tony said softly, putting his hands up. “Okay, I won’t. But, kid, you need to take a deep breath. You need to calm down so I can look at that hand.”

“I a-am calm,” Peter said, sitting up. In his head, he thought about what we could see, hear, think and feel. After a while, Peter had stopped crying. His back was up against the cupboard and his eyes were staring down at the tiled floor as he tried to avoid Tony’s gaze. “I’ll get out of your hair.” Peter said, getting up. He leant on the cupboard as he got up, wincing as the wound touched the side. 

“I’m sorry,” Tony said. “I didn’t mean to be horrible to you. Uh, so… do you accept that?” 

“You’re a bit crap with apologises.” Peter mumbled. “But, uh, I guess?”

“I know it sounded sarcastic, but I am sorry.” Tony shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to be lovey with you but, I promise I will try to not be an asshole.”

“Thank you,” Peter sighed, looking down at his hand. “That’s all I ask.” 

Tony grabbed some cleaning supplies from the cabinet and used a dustpan and brush to clean up the glass from the floor. He put it in the bin and told the kid to stand in front of the sink. He took the boy’s hand and put it underneath the warm water, cleaning it. “I guess you’re clumsy, huh?” He said, awkwardly. Peter nodded as Tony grabbed the first aid kit. He wiped the wound with the alcohol wipes, making Peter wince, and wrapped it up with a bandage. “Uh, kid? Did you want to watch a film?”

“Sure.”

The two sat on the sofa, far-apart, and put on a random film. It was mostly background noise, neither of them was paying attention. They didn’t speak either. Peter stared at the wall. When he came to, he noticed that Tony had fallen asleep on the pillows. Peter turned to film, deciding to watch it as a distraction. He thought of May as he looked at the woman on screen. He knew he should stop thinking about everyone else, the time in the house would be over before he knew it. 

Tony woke up on the sofa. He looked over to see the kid had fallen asleep too. The TV had turned off and the room was dark. The edge of the boy’s mask was up to his mouth, a bowl of popcorn on his lap. Tony stared for a while and let a small smile form on a face. The way that the blanket was wrapped around reminded him of Pepper. He grabbed the remote and put the TV back on. The time flashed up. It was 3am. They put the movie on at 7pm and he couldn’t remember a second of it. He must have fallen asleep as soon as it started. He got a full 8 hours, he realised. Tony couldn’t remember the last time that happened. 

Both Tony and Peter started to talk a lot more since that day. It had been a whole week since they moved in. They weren’t exactly ‘close’, and they hadn’t revealed much to each other but, it was better than it had been before. Peter’s personality was infectious. There was something about him that made Tony calm. Without the lab, Tony thought he’d spiral back into drinking like he had in his bachelor days. The amount of beers in the fridge, however, hadn’t fallen. He wouldn’t say that he was friends with this kid now, but he definitely got the title ‘acquaintance’. If he wanted to join the Avengers when they got out, he wouldn’t be mad. 

Peter had never been more bored in his life. He could smell the food that Tony was making from the living room but, he didn’t think to go and help. One, Tony looked like he was in a bad mood and two, Peter in the kitchen didn’t help anyone. He grabbed some paper from one of the shelves and an adjacent pen. He decided to work on some designs he could do once he got out. 

Before he knew it, Tony was calling him to come and eat. They ate quietly, as they usually did. Peter would make the odd comment, thanking him, and Tony would shrug and mumble something in response. Conversation picked up slightly. Tony told him about him and Rhodey during their college days (only the fun stories), Peter listened with red cheeks as he wanted to tell him that his young ears shouldn’t be hearing this. He laughed instead, pretending to understand him. 

“What college did you go to?”

“Uh… um, MIT? Yes. I did. Go there.” Peter nodded, finishing the last piece of food. “I graduated a few years back.”

“What did you study?”

Peter panicked. What kind of classes did MIT even offer? He had looked to go there before so he shut his eyes, trying to remember what he had researched. 

“Ben?”

“Uh… I studied… computer science?”

“Are you asking me if you studied it or telling me?” Tony laughed. “I did MIT too. You must be some sort of genius then, huh?” 

“Not really… nothing like you.” Peter said, believing that to be true. When, in fact, Peter could keep up with Tony in most subjects. He wouldn’t be able to do everything like Tony, but they did have a similar genius about them. 

“Most people are nothing like me, kid.” He winked. 

“Uh… Mr Stark?” Peter mumbled, looking down at his feet and then back up at the man. He played with a bit of the broccoli on his plate with his fork and sighed. “My name’s not Ben.”

“I figured.” Tony laughed, looking down at his plate. “You need to eat your greens. You’re not twelve anymore, you don’t need to be afraid of it. I promise they’re quite good.”

He wasn’t far away from twelve, Peter thought. Tony didn’t need to know that. “You knew that I lied? How come you weren’t mad?”

Tony laughed, picking up his own clean plate. “Course I knew. Did you forget that you’re living with a genius? Most things don’t go past me. Frankly, kid, I’m not mad because I don’t really care that much. You want to be secretive? Go ahead, doesn’t hurt me. Normally not a fan of the whole lying thing but, kid, it’s such a small lie. Did you really think I’d be bothered?” 

Peter nodded, frowning. “Oh.” He said. 

Peter went to follow Tony out of the room as the man took his out to clean in the kitchen. Tony put a hand on his chest, pushing him back down. “Wasn’t kidding about the whole ‘eat your greens’, spiel. You’re not getting vitamins from the sun, so you need them from your veggies, at least. Don’t leave this room until that piece of broccoli is digested.” Tony stopped out of the door and laughed. “God, sounds like I’m your father.” He froze for a second. “Oh god, you’re probably young enough to actually be my son. That just sucks.” Then, suddenly, he just left. 

Peter cringed as he ate the broccoli. Oh, it wasn’t as bad as he remembered. Maybe May just burnt the ones he tried before. He walked into the kitchen, looked at Tony washing up and took a deep breath. “Peter Parker.”

“What?” Tony said. “Is that some sort of secret code that I should know?”

“No, um, that’s my name. My name’s Peter.” 

“Oh, okay.” Tony smiled. He put the plate on the drying rack and took the one Peter was holding from his hands. As he put the plate on the counter, he took the boy’s hand. “Nice to meet you, officially, Mr Parker.”

Peter laughed a little, shaking Tony’s hand. “I wouldn’t say ‘officially’ yet, Mr Stark. You still don’t know what I look like.”

“Are you about to take the damn mask off as well? Because I didn’t want to say anything as I pledged to be nice, but it really smells still.” Tony said as he dropped his hand to his side. He wouldn’t admit it, but he was getting curious about the kid’s identity. He noticed Peter tense up, so he sighed. “Ah, still wanting to be secret. That’s still okay.”

“Sorry about that, Mr Stark.”

“Once again, Pete, I’m not bothered. What you decide to do doesn’t really bother me that much.” Tony told him, “Film night tonight? I’m not that tired yet. Perhaps it’ll be sort of a celebration in finding out your name.” 

“I’d like that.”

Tony finished up with the washing, Peter making little comments as he sat at the bar stool. They both went into the living room. Peter stared at the table and quickly ran up to it. “Oh! Sorry, Mr Stark! I forgot to clean up before I came to eat dinner.”

Tony walked up behind the kid and whistled at the piece of paper he was holding in his hands. “Did you design this or is it just some fan drawing?”

“It’s my design.” Peter said. “It’s what I would do with my Spider-suit if I had the capabilities to do so.” 

“Wow,” Tony raised his eyebrows. “This is really good.”

“I know it’s nothing like-,”

“No, kid.” Tony stopped him. “This is some top-level stuff. You were really underselling the whole ‘genius’ conversation that we had before. Listen to me, Pete. I’m going to teach you how to properly sell yourself. Not like that. I don’t think you need to learn that.” Peter’s head titled. Tony let out a little laugh, realising the kid didn’t understand. “Never mind, you’ll understand one day. Anyway, you need to show people how clever you really are. I can teach you that.”

Peter smiled wide. “Thank you, Mr Stark!” He said, his voice clearly excited. “I have been working on an AI. Her name is Karen. I think she’s sort of like FRIDAY, but I’ve tuned her to work more of a crime-sidekick sort of thing. If I had my phone, I could show you a recording of one of the prototypes I made on my computer…”

“Hey, Pete?” Tony said, still looking at some different designs. “How about you come work for me after this? As you and Spiderman? Get a whole ‘Clark Kent’ thing started. We can even make that new suit for you because these dollar-store goggles and onesie suit really isn’t doing it for you.” 

“Really?” Peter said, smiling. He wished he could accept it, but he’d never have time with school going on. “I already, uh, have a job though.”

Tony stared at him, shaking his head with a chuckle. “So? Quit.” 

“I’ll think about it, Mr Stark.”

“Great.” 

Peter and Tony decided to leave the movie. Instead, the two of them sat on the table in the living room and came up with a bunch of new projects that they could start whenever this ended. Tony took the seat next to Peter, showing him different techniques. Tony’s mind turned into work mode and came up with idea after idea for a new suit. Peter watched him, in awe of how his mind worked. Sitting with Tony Stark, as the man was in his element, was what he expected when he took the first few steps down that corridor. Finally, he thought. Maybe staying down here for a few more days, maybe months, wouldn’t be that bad…


	4. Trying not to show I care

Tony’s eyebrows raised as he walked into the kitchen to see Peter sat with his legs crossed on the ceiling. It didn’t make him jump however as he got used to it. His lips quirked up into a smile. “Morning, Pete.” He told him, raising a mug. 

“Morning Mr Stark.” Peter grinned, the orange in his hand falling to the ground. “Oh shit,” 

“Language,” Tony said, grinning. 

Peter grinned, sitting on the side of the kitchen counter as Tony got something out of the fridge. He swung his feet back and forth as they didn’t quite reach the floor. Tony threw an apple at him with no warning and Peter caught it effortlessly. 

“One of your five a day,” Tony told him, grabbing one for himself. “Hopefully, we’ll be out here soon but for now you need to eat healthily.” Tony sat on the barstool next to the kid and ate, making small conversation with the kid to pass the time.

“I know, you keep reminding me,” Peter mumbled.

The days kept going and repeating, the two of them following a routine. Breakfast, project work, reading, card games, dinner, movie and then bed. Most of the time, they’d even fall asleep on the sofa. Tony still wouldn’t admit he liked the kid, but his smile said the opposite. 

Both the boys had fallen asleep on the sofa again when Peter’s spider sense spiked. He sat up, staring up at the door. He heard some footsteps, so he decided to walk over to Tony. He made sure the lights were off first. 

“Mr Stark,” He whispered, shaking the man’s shoulders. “Mr Stark!” He said again, a bit louder. 

Tony groaned, opening his eyes. He blinked. “Jesus, kiddo! You scared the life out of me!” He said, his voice mumbled as Peter put a hand over his mouth. “What the- hmmf!” 

“Shut up!” He whispered. “Somebody is here. We’ve got to hide.”

Peter let his hand go. The footsteps got louder. He grabbed Tony and pulled him behind the sofa. They crouched underneath it. Peter started to shake, scared of who might have found them. Tony’s hand awkwardly put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Kid, you’re the one who’s still a superhero without the suit.”

Peter frowned. It wasn’t the time to have this sort of conversation, but Peter needed to let him know the truth. “You are a superhero without the armour, Mr Stark-,”

Tony was about to reply. Peter looked up at the door and saw a figure. The light turned on and Peter’s whole body relaxed. Oh. It was just Nick Fury. Peter peaked his head out from behind the sofa and then back at Tony, a sheepish smile on his face. 

“Oh.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry. I overreacted a little.”

“You’re telling me that,” Tony mumbled. 

“Still got the mask on then, Spidey?” Fury said. “Stark. Still got that scowl on your face.”

“Oh, always for you.” Tony flashed a fake smile for two seconds and let the scowl return. “Are you here with good news?”

“No.” Fury said. He could’ve laughed at how frustrated Tony looked if he wasn’t in immediate danger. “We just wanted to give you an update.” Fury turned to face Peter. “Your Aunt is also a bit suspicious that you haven’t wrote from ‘summer camp’ yet so we need to get you to write something.”

“Summer camp? How’s she believing that? The kid’s like 25, does she think he’s running it or something?” Tony laughed.

Fury looked between the two. He was the only adult in the whole world that knew Peter’s identity, the second person to know overall. He shrugged at Tony. “Or something. Anyway, come on Peter. Let go write that letter.”

Peter took the mask off as he got into his bedroom. He took the piece of paper and wrote something fake that would calm May down. Fury looked at him as he handed it over. “So, you haven’t told Stark how old you are yet? You can’t hide it forever, Peter.”

“I’d rather not tell him Mr Fury.” Peter told him. “I don’t know why… I just, I- I feel weird about it. I want him to like me but-but I’m afraid he’ll be angry that I’m a teenager.”

Fury shrugged. “I think he’ll be fine with it.” Peter went to continue the conversation, but Fury stopped him. “Anyway. We have eyes constantly on the people you are in contact with most. MJ, Ned and May are fine. We haven’t found any clues on the identity of the threat but, trust us as soon as we do- you’ll be out of here.”

“Right.” Peter nodded.

Before he knew it, Fury had left. Tony was sat with him at the dinner, getting Deja-vu as the day repeated. He stared at the kid, who was more silent than usual. 

“Summer camp, huh? What have you done in the past for your Aunt to believe you’re going to one of those at 25?” Peter sat in silence, not knowing what to say. Tony’s face flashed with realisation for a few seconds. “Unless you’re not that old. How old are you really?” Peter didn’t say anything. “Peter! Are you just going to sit there frozen or talk to me? How old are you?”

“I don’t have to tell you! I didn’t think you cared about what I did!”

“That’s before I realised you were the age of someone who still went to summer camp!” Tony snapped. “I’m not evil, Peter! I don’t support the idea of letting kids die out in the battlefield.”

“Well- you work for an organisation that does so I guess you’ll just have to deal with it!” Peter shouted. “I’m old enough to do what I do! You didn’t care about my age when we were looking at making my suits! Why do you care now?” 

Tony shook his head. “I don’t work for shield; I don’t have to listen to them.” He said, glaring at the boy in front of him. “I don’t want to find out that some child has died because none of us care enough to keep you safe!”

“If you don’t have to listen to them… then why are you even here?!” Peter said. He got up from his spot and left his plate of food. “I won’t die! I’m safe!” He said, walking out of the room towards his bedroom.

Tony got up, following the kid down the hallway. “Don’t walk away from me!” He shouted. “You’re not safe! None of us are! Captain America got attacked and almost killed only a month ago, how do you think that you’re still safe! Because, Peter, I don’t think you’re stronger than him! Do you? You don’t even have a suit that will protect you from a tiny scrape!”

“And why do you care?! When we get out of here you won’t even talk to me so what does it matter if I end up dead?! You didn’t even care enough to know my real name so why do you suddenly care about my safety all of a sudden?!” Peter shouted, opening the door of his bedroom. He walked in and went to shut it, but Tony’s hand stopped it. Peter took a few steps back as Tony walked in. 

“I do care!” Tony yelled, surprising himself. “For fuck sake, of course I care if you’re just a child! Look at you, you’re in a safe house! How can you say that you’re staying safe when you can’t even be outside without a risk of dying? Think about it.”

“Why? How can I believe that you give a shit about me when you never talk about anything other than work or dinner, I don’t know anything about you! All you care about is getting out of here. I don’t even know why you’re wasting time with this argument when we’ll never see each other again anyway!” Peter was furious at this point, his chest raising up and down. He clenched a fist and turned away from Tony, but he could still hear the other man standing there. “Go away!”

Tony took a deep breath and thought about why he did care, about why it stressed him out so much that Peter was young. He stared at the kid’s hands that were shaking. “Peter,” He said, dragging a hand through his hair, not bothering to explain why he cared; he couldn’t bear to let Peter know. “I finally got to know you over the last week. You’re so intelligent. Why can’t you save the world by inventing some life-changing device instead of getting shot by some psychopath!?”

“Just leave me alone!” Peter said. “I don’t care what you think!”

“The way you’re talking just proves to me that you’re not mature enough to be a superhero! How old are you Peter?! Why don’t you just tell me?” He took a deep breath once more, shaking his head. He clenched one of his fists to calm himself down. 

Peter looked over at Tony’s fists, making his heartbeat speed up. He stepped back, his back hitting the wall. “I’m… nineteen.” He lied, looking down at his feet. “So, I’m still an adult. I can make my own decisions! It’s not something you can argue with me.”

“Nineteen…” Tony repeated. “Jesus,” He shook his head. “Nineteen and you’re in enough danger that a government agency has to put you in a safe house. Peter, if you keep going like this then you’re going to end up like me; not being able to sleep for hours, not wanting to be awake without seeing everything. It’s a tough life-,”

“Too late!” Peter shouted, his eyes welling up with tears. “Just get out!”

Tony looked over at the boy. He frowned, turning around and leaving the bedroom and Peter behind. He walked into his own and stared at the wallpaper, frustrated. He punched the wall. “Fuck!” He shouted to himself, sitting down on the floor. He put his head in his hands, just wanting to be around Rhodey or Pepper; they’d know how to calm himself down. He listened to Peter crying from across the hall. His knuckles were bruised from the effect of the wall, the pain falling through him. 

He was a stubborn person, Tony knew that. His inability to trust people, to open-up, wasn’t something he liked about himself. However, he didn’t think he was in the wrong here. Peter was clearly in trouble. He was young, small and trusting; he could even tell how the boy’s eyes sparkled behind the mask. He was intelligent, a genius, and could’ve been so much better than what the two of them were. Tony bit his lip, thinking about how he shouted. In only a week, Tony felt like he needed to protect Peter. He wasn’t his friend. Tony didn’t make friends. But he wasn’t heartless… The boy was just that, a boy. 

Tony blinked and when his vision became clear again, he was stood in the middle of a battlefield. Peter was there, in his suit, and he was falling. Tony used all the power in the suit that he could but, it was useless. The kid just kept going. He hit the floor with a splat. Tony’s heart stopped as he flew to the kid. He couldn’t hear anything but, his own pulse. His hands flew to the kid’s shoulder. He tried to shake him awake. Nothing worked. He was used to seeing stuff like this but, it was usually Pepper or Rhodey he failed to save. He refused to believe he was attached to the kid, he couldn’t be. 

He tried to breathe but it felt stuck in his throat. He knelt to the floor, his legs wobbling, and put a hand over his heart. The pressure over his heart hurt. He shut his eyes, not hearing his door open. The next thing he knew, the kid was telling him to name 5 things. He understood what the kid was saying, he was trying to help him out of his panic attack.

“That doesn’t help for me, Pete,” Tony managed to say. His breath was short as he looked up into the concerned eyes of the Spiderman mask. “Need to do some breathing and relaxation t-techniques-,”

“I’ll do it with you, Mr Stark,”

Peter sat beside Tony and took the man’s hand, not thinking that he might hesitate back. Tony looked at him with a small, soft, smile and practiced his deep breathing (Peter followed). Tony relaxed his muscles, starting with his fingers. Peter’s eyes were on him as he repeated what Tony did. After a while, with Peter’s help, Tony’s panic had subsided. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter said, after they had been in silence for a while.

“It’s okay,” Tony replied, frowning. “I guess, uh, I’m sorry too. I was just worried about you. Nineteen is no age to do our job,”

“Mr Stark… just because I’m young doesn’t mean that I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t do all the big jobs. I work for the smaller guy because I know that I’m not ready for bigger yet. I’m not trying to save the world; I’m just trying to make it a better place. I- I have these powers and I see bad things happening every day and I can help it; I can stop it. I can’t just keep walking.” Peter tried to explain his point of view, hoping Tony would understand.

“Sometimes being selfish is good, Peter.” Tony told him, leaning back against the bed. “But I do understand what you’re saying, and I know you don’t have to listen to me. God knows I didn’t listen to authority at a younger age.” Tony looked at the kid with a frown. “You’re a good kid, Pete. People like you make the world a better place.”

“T-Thank you Mr Stark,” Peter stuttered. “So do yo-,”

“Ah…” Tony shook his head. “That’s enough of a heart-to-heart for now. I can only take those in intervals. I’ll go make dinner,” Tony got up from the spot they were sat in. He left the room and Peter behind, not wanting to open up to anyone. That hadn’t changed, he didn’t know if it ever would.


	5. Opening up

Peter was hesitant to spend too much time with Tony after that day; it wouldn’t be wrong to say that he was a little scared to upset or annoy Tony. Tony had noticed his absence. He sat in the kitchen, early in the morning, and held an apple in his hand. He stared at the apple and then up at the door, wanting Peter to walk in. He didn’t however, making Tony feel a guilt that he hadn’t felt in a while. 

Peter was in his bathroom, fresh out of the shower. He stared at the steamed-up mirror. It had been a whole month since the two of them had moved in. Peter didn’t think this was going to last that long. At first, he was excited. He thought that he was going to have the time of his life with Tony Stark but as days went by, he lost more and more hope that it was going to end soon. The first weeks with Tony had been on and off; it depended on the mood they were in. They hadn’t spoken much in the last three days since Fury’s visit. The lack of conversation made the days feel longer and Peter was beginning to feel lonely and depressed. 

Peter took one of the pillows from his bed into the living room, cuddling up. He put a movie on and looked up at the door. Tony was stood there, his face only illuminated by the faint glow of the television. He didn’t say a thing but, he decided to sit down beside Peter (just a little bit closer than he usually would). 

Peter stared. He smiled a little and edged up next to Tony so that he could prop his legs up on the man’s lap. Tony looked at him, confused, but chuckled lightly and let him continue. They watched the film for its runtime. 

When Peter got up to go and sleep, a soft hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. He turned to see Tony’s face, almost pleading with him to sit back down. So, he did. 

“I think we need to talk, don’t you?” Tony almost whispered. “Please.” He added. He had promised to be nice, after all. 

“Uh, yeah,” Peter said, cuddling the pillow from the bed close to his chest. 

“So?” Tony said, turning around to face Peter face on. “I feel like you’ve been ignoring me like a plague recently. Care to elaborate on why? It seems like we’re not here getting out of here anytime soon so I’d hope we can communicate well.”

“Yeah, I’d hope so too. But, Mr Stark, you don’t. I don’t want to push you, at all, to open up about anything but you keep asking me to reveal my identity, and then my age, yet you don’t want to tell me anything about you. So, you can’t expect me to do the same. Can you?” Peter frowned, playing with the edge of the pillow cover, not wanting to annoy Tony. “I’ve been keeping to myself as I, uh, I feel as if you don’t want me around anyway, so I don’t want to get in your way.”

Tony sighed. “You’re right, kid. I’m sorry about that. I haven’t really been fair on you, have I? It’s hard for me to open up. I’ve never been tuned in with my emotions as my father was a cold man who took that out on me. My father told me that Stark men never cried, never showed vulnerability and were always strong. I’ve tried to be like that all my life but when I started to get panic attacks after Afghanistan and New York, that all shattered. I closed myself off and built a wall and that’s been there ever since. Guess that you are kind of helping me break it down, aren’t you?” He chuckled but nothing was funny. “I can’t sleep. I can’t even close my eyes without seeing space all around me in the wormhole. I can’t look at the people I love without imagining them dead. The only time in which I don’t focus on that stuff is when I’m working in the lab or on something else.” 

“I’m sorry about that, Mr Stark.” Peter said, a frown on his face. He tugged at the edge of his mask, debating whether he should show Tony who he really was. He let his hand fall, tucking it in the pocket of his hoodie he had over the suit. “I think talking about the stuff you go through is really important. Do you have a therapist? I’ve been through quite a bit, even before the bite, and I wanted to talk to somebody but unfortunately we just don’t have the money to do so.” 

Tony’s faced scrunched up into an un-recognisable facial expression. He turned his body slightly, so that Peter’s legs fell from his lap. He looked down at his feet and laughed a little. “I can’t. I can’t put some poor person through all the shit I’d need to talk about.”

Peter sighed. “My parents died at the age of 4, I then moved in with my Aunt and Uncle, I’ve been physically bullied in school, to the point where I bled and at the age of fourteen, I watched my Uncle bleed out on a shop floor as he was shot in front of me. Trust me, Mr Stark, I’d need to write a novel to get through everything. But that’s what they’re there for. They’re professionals.” He bit his lip and stared at Tony who looked as if he was questioning something. “You need to talk, Mr Stark. It is not weak to open up, sir, it’s strong.”

“I ever tell you that you’re too good for this world, kid?” Tony said, smiling as he heard Peter letting out a small laugh. “We’ll do therapy, me and you, when we get out. I’ll pay for the best. You deserve it. I-I deserve it.” He said the last bit to himself, trying to get himself to believe it. Tony went to tell Peter that he did care about him, but his mouth didn’t open, it didn’t let him speak. He didn’t want to tell the kid that he was bothered, he didn’t want to be vulnerable (still). He had already said too much, and he wasn’t letting a nineteen-year-old into the whirlwind that was his life. 

“You don’t have to pay for m-,”

“I do,” Tony interrupted. “Thanks to you, I’m finally going to get my shit together. Hopefully. Pepper is going to love you.” 

“Yeah, well, she’s cooler than you.” Peter grinned, laughing when Tony nudged him. He fell onto his back at Tony told him he was a little shit and laughed harder than he had in a while. When Peter sat back up, Tony was looking at him with a familiar warmth in his face. 

When Peter looked at Tony, it almost reminded him of Uncle Ben. His smile fell as Tony’s face morphed into Ben’s and all he could hear was the man yelling at him. He kept repeating how it was his fault he was dead. Peter stretched his fingers out, relaxing his muscles, as he tried to repeat what Tony had done to stop panicking earlier. Tony’s eyes easily followed his movements, making him frown.

“Peter? You okay?”

Peter blinked twice and let his vision sort itself out. He took one deep breath: in and out. When it was Tony looking back at him again (and not Ben,) he smiled softly. “Yeah. I am.”

Peter was sat on the dining room table, waiting for his dinner that Tony was making. He was reading a book, one of Bruce’s lab-notebooks about gamma radiation, and loving every second of it. He didn’t even notice when the plate was put in front of him until Tony coughed twice. Peter flinched back, the book went falling, and glared at Tony. The mask’s eyes squinted. Tony laughed, sitting next to the kid. 

“You know, he’s a bit of a nerd,” Tony said, gesturing to the book that was now on the floor. 

“So are you,” Peter pouted, grabbing his fork. He pulled the mask up to his lips and showed Tony had upset he was with a big frown. “So am I.”

“I am not a nerd,” Tony said, “I was America’s biggest bachelor for years on end.” 

“Keep telling yourself that, Mr Stark,”

As Peter watched Tony laugh, it reminded him of Ned. A bit of him felt guilty that he was finally enjoying himself in the safe house. He yearned to be out, after 32 days stuck underneath the dirt. He forgot what fresh air smelt like, how it felt to just sit in the sun. He even missed English class, as much as the teacher annoyed him. 

“Kid,” Tony said, pulling in his chair. “Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” Peter laughed, wiggling his eyebrows. He forgot that Tony couldn’t see his face, so he shrugged. “Go on,”

“How did you become Spiderman? I’ve been curious since you said, ‘the bite’ earlier.” 

Peter laughed. “Is this your science brain talking?” Tony relaxed into his seat, laughing. He turned to face Peter, nodding as he did. “Of course. Well, uh, I was on a school trip when I was younger to Oscorp.”

“Eugh, why didn’t your school come to Stark Industries instead?” Tony interrupted. 

“Mr Stark, I swear you don’t even do school trips-,”

“Oh. Yeah, you’re right. Good thing that we don’t, I don’t need a bunch of kids running around and touching everything,” Tony said, mainly to himself. Peter looked at him for a while, in silence. “Are you going to continue your story?”

“I wasn’t aware you finished talking,” Peter mumbled, letting out a little laugh. “I went to the bathroom and when I came back, my group was nowhere to be seen. So, uh, I decided to walk around to try and find them. I ended up in the labs somehow. I walked into a room and saw this box with a Spider in it and then, before I could walk out, I felt a sharp pain in my neck. I looked back into the middle of the room and the Spider was gone. It bit me. When I went home that evening, I was incredibly sick and then; superpowers.” 

“And you didn’t use these cool new powers to impress your peers at school?” Tony asked. “I definitely would.”

“I used to wear glasses. I used to have asthma. Suddenly, I didn’t have any of that. I realised that these powers were a gift, and I didn’t want to waste it. Then, I made the suit. My Uncle Ben died a month later and I was the one that failed to save him.” The mood in the room changed immediately. Peter put his knife and fork down on the table. He took a sharp breath, staring at his hands. “It was my fault he died. So… as I knelt on that floor, my Uncle in my arms, I decided that I needed to use what I had to help people.” He stood up from the table, pushed the chair in, and felt his eyes well up with tears. “Sorry, Mr Stark, I-,” He turned to leave the room. 

Peter froze as he felt a hand around his wrist. He was pulled around to face Tony, who was looking at him with a sad look on his face. “Come here,” Tony mumbled. Peter could hear the hesitancy in his voice as he spoke to him. Peter was confused about what he meant until he felt arms around his waist. Tony was hugging him. “It was not your fault, kid,” Tony whispered into his ear. Peter melted into the embrace, putting his arms around Tony. He listened to the man’s heartbeat, which helped him calm down. They stayed there for a while until Tony stepped back. The man’s face was unreadable as he listened to the soft cries from Peter, the young boy’s hands shaking. He grabbed the kid’s hand and squeezed it once before letting it go again. “What happened should not be on your shoulders, Pete. The only person’s fault it is, is the man who pulled the trigger.” When Peter shook his head, Tony frowned. “Kid, please. Listen to me. It’s not your fault.”

“I was the reason why we were outside,” Peter said, still shaking his head. The tears picked up. “He was out trying to find me, sir. It’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”

“Peter…” Tony frowned, not knowing what to say. “Do you think it is my fault when I fail to save people on a mission?”

Peter’s eyes flew open. “No! O-Of course not!” 

“Then how is it your fault that Ben died, kid? You didn’t kill him.” Tony said, frowning. “I know how it feels to hold that pressure on your shoulders. Damn kid, I did the same with my own parents. But, as you’ve reminded me, it’s okay to feel like that. But I just want you to know that it’s not your fault, it never will be. Okay, kiddo? Tell me it’s not your fault,” 

“It’s not my-my fault,” Peter said, almost believing it.

“He’s watching you, kid. He’s got your back.” Tony put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a soft, almost awkward, smile. “They’d be so proud of you.”

“Thank you, Mr Stark.”

“It’s okay, kid,” Tony said. “Now, come on. Go and wipe those tears and come back to eat. I’ve doubled up on your veggies.”

Peter nodded, leaving the room. He walked into his bedroom and leant against the door as soon as he closed it. He sobbed, getting it all out of his system. The mask clenched in his fist. He washed his face, calmed down, and eventually made his way back into the kitchen where Tony was sat, who hadn’t touched his food. 

“Come sit, Pete,” He said, pulling his chair out. The boy took a seat and pulled himself in, smiling when Tony’s hand touched his shoulder. 

They ate their food, Peter making sure to eat his vegetables. The conversation was silent, the words from earlier in the day hanging above them. But it wasn’t an awkward silence like the days before. The two of them were content to sit and eat, to enjoy each other’s company.


	6. The days keep coming

Peter’s eyes narrowed as he watched Tony Stark, one of the most famous people on earth, standing on a stool in front of a bookcase. He wobbled as he reached up to the top, trying to grab the cardboard boxes on the top. Peter watched with a smirk as the billionaire stood on his tiptoes. 

“Need some help?” Peter said, crossing his arms. He laughed as Tony turned on the stool, glaring at him with his eyebrows raised. “I was just asking. I can climb ceilings. You know that, right?” 

“This is the last time I keep my promise of being nice to you,” Tony told him, jumping from the stool down to the ground. “Grab some of the boxes, if you’d please,” 

Peter climbed up the side of the wall, grabbed the boxes, and carried them down. He placed them down on the wall and looked at the items there with a confused look on his face. “Board games?” He asked, titling his heads. “You almost broke a hip to get some board games?” 

Tony took a rolled-up piece of paper in his hand, hitting Peter over the head of it. “Cheeky shit,” He laughed. “Firstly, I did not break a hip. I’m in my prime, kiddo. You’re just a baby,” He told him. “Secondly, I was getting these down for you. I’m getting fed up with listening to you groaning about being bored. So, next best thing is this.”

“I’m going to absolutely destroy you in monopoly,” Peter grinned, sitting down on one of the chairs. 

“Yeah, sure you are,” Tony laughed, “You’re going to beat a billionaire in a game about capitalism. Good luck with that,” 

In the end, Peter did win. He grinned at how salty the other man looked, throwing fake money at his face with a proud smirk plastered on his face. He put his feet up on the opposite chair, his hands behind his head. Tony was staring at him, shaking his head. He started laughing, he couldn’t stop it. Hanging out with Peter, as much as he would never admit it, was the best time he had in a while. He had never felt so carefree. 

Time kept going by and they heard nothing from Fury. Peter sat in the living room with the mask heavy around his face. At this point he wanted to take it off but, he didn’t want to ruin his relationship with Tony that was getting better every day. Tony told Peter that he didn’t care yet the back of his mind was telling him that Tony would be furious if he ever found out the truth. He decided he’d roll with it, hopefully he’d be able to last the rest of their time in here without letting it slip. 

Peter sat with his legs on Tony’s lap as they watched yet another film. “I think we’ll be able to watch all of Netflix by the time we get out.”

“Not possible,” Tony mumbled, his eyes blinking as he tried to stay awake. “Plus, you always make us watch something related to Star Wars, so we’d never get through everything anyway.” 

“It was a joke. A funny one, you should’ve laughed,” Peter pouted, “Hey Mr Stark?”

“Peter. Do you ever stop talking? Watch the film,” Tony told him, frowning when he found himself being a bit short with the kid. “Sorry. I’m tired,”

“I can see that,” Peter said whilst crossing his arms. They sat in silence for a while, which Peter hated. He decided to fill the break with another question. “What’s your favourite colour?”

“Peter,” Tony shook his head with an amused laugh, “It’s red.”

“That’s cool. My suit is red. Does that mean you like me, Mr Stark?” Peter said, fluttering his eyelashes. He realised he looked like an idiot as Tony couldn’t even see his face. If he could see it, he’d laugh. It was hilarious. 

“My suits red too kid, I think you’re a bit of a copycat,” Tony said. “What’s with all the talking? Can’t you just be content in silence,” 

“Nope. I can’t do that,” Peter told him, frowning, “Hey, do you remember the vulture guy?”

“How do you know about him?” Tony said, sitting up a little. “He was a right nuisance. Happy told me some guy caught him, told me webs were ever-,” He stopped, sighing. “Ah. That was you that brought him down?”

“Yeah,” Peter nodded. “It wasn’t nice. I’d been following him for a while. He dropped me from like high up and I almost drowned in some river, then he dropped a building on me and then I got a lot of bruises after taking that plane down. Those bruises were hard to explain to Aunt May. But! It was worth it! He’s in prison now, I heard. Although, I do get memories of him sometimes. Hard to get out of my head,”

“He did all of that to you?!” Tony said, his eyes wide and his heartbeat fast. “Fuck, that’s bad. I just- I just stood back and let it happen to you. Gosh, you’re only nineteen… a whole building? How did you even get out?” 

“Woah, It’s so not your fault!” Peter said, worrying that he’d made Tony feel guilty. “Mr Stark, I’m like really stubborn so once I saw it happening, I wasn’t going to give up until I found him. I would’ve kept going if you knew who I was anyway. The building? Well, uh, I just lifted it. It was really heavy, but I knew I just had to persevere, or I would’ve died down there,” Peter explained, shifting himself closer to Tony. “I’m sorry, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. Let’s just talk about something else. What is your favourite animal? Personally, I love dogs. All of them. They’re just really cute and-,”

“Peter.” Tony said, biting his lip. “Please just stop talking for one second,” Peter looked over at the man who was hunched over, his head in his hands. He was muttering something, Peter only heard little words like ‘just a kid’, ‘a whole building’ or ‘my fault’. Peter edged a bit closer to comfort him, but Tony moved away from his touch, a harsh hitch of his breath filling the room. 

“T-Tony?” Peter said, tilting his head. “Please. I am sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Tony said, dropping his hands away from his face. “I’m the one that needs to be sorry,” He added, raising his voice just a little. His face was covered in a guilty look, his hair ruffled by the movement of his hands. “You’re a child, Peter. Why didn’t you come and contact one of us to let us know it was all happening? You’re traumatised from it; you can’t even sleep properly because of it. We’ve got firepower, I’ve got all the Avengers behind me. The vulture would’ve been nothing to us. What if you died? Huh, then I’d have that on my conscience. I don’t need that, Peter! Think about yourself for once!” 

“A simple thank you for saving your whole company would’ve been nice,” Peter said, spiting his name with a scowl on his face. “Why on earth are you shouting at me? Like you said, I’m just a child,” He mocked Tony’s voice as he spoke about his age, “Do you think you would’ve taken me seriously? A child in a ‘onesie’. You’re telling me you would’ve taken my word and gone after a ‘vulture?’ No, you wouldn’t have. Then he would’ve got away with it to go and kill thousands of people and then all their lives are on my conscience. You’re so selfish! I went through all of that, told you, and then all you do with that information is throw it back in my face! I can’t believe we’re going through all this again.” Peter refused to move as he spoke, his breathing fast as he finished his rant. He stared at Tony, waiting for his reaction. 

Tony was never good with his emotions but as he listened to the kid shouting, tears of frustration lined his eyes. He blinked them away, not letting any fall. He never cried and he wasn’t about to start in a safe house with a random kid. He stared at Peter; who’s small hands were clenched. The eyes of the mask were staring right at him, waiting for a response. Tony didn’t know what to say. He knew that the kid was right, he knew he had no right to be annoyed but he couldn’t help it. “You’re right, which is something I don’t say often,” Tony sighed, “I’m sorry for shouting. I should be saying thank you. You really did save my ass that day.” 

“Yeah, I did,” Peter replied, smugly, yet he was still angry. 

“You remind me of Rhodey, sometimes. He sees right through me, you see. You sort of do the same thing. You’re better at climbing ceilings than he is, however. You’re not exactly the same,” Tony told him. “Look, kid, I- You know I’m shit at this whole ‘feeling’ stuff, so I’ll try and say it like it is. I do care about you, somewhat. You’re a good kid, I’d be upset if we lost you. Knowing that something to do with me put you in danger doesn’t sit right. But I am thankful that you did it. Just guilty that you got hurt,” 

“Well, I did get hurt but that’s not on you. Think about what you told me. The only person at fault is the man that pulled the trigger. You didn’t drop the building; you didn’t drop me in the river. Therefore, it wasn’t your fault.” Peter said.

Tony opened his mouth to speak but stopped when a door opened down the hallway. They were used to what that meant now, so they were not surprised when Fury walked in. “You two seem to be handling safe house life quite well. I think Natasha almost ripped Clint’s head of this morning when I walked in to update them and I needed to clean my eyes when I walked in on Steve and Bucky,” Fury groaned, laughing when Tony leant forward to put his hands over Peter’s ears. “We know who the guy is. When we locate him, we can get you out of here,” Fury told them, watching with amusement as they both lit up with hope. “Thankful for your co-operation, boys. Especially you Stark. It definitely has made the process a lot easier.” 

When Fury left, Peter hadn’t felt happier. His whole face was wide with glee. He looked over at Tony, who eyes were already on him. They spent the rest of the night with another film. They’d be out before they knew it.

After they thought they knew good news, the days kept coming. Tony had locked himself in his room as he stared down at the framed picture of Pepper in his hands. He heard Peter singing to himself in the other room. How could the kid be happy? They had been here for two months. Two months of solitude confinement, of now fresh air. He didn’t even know what the weather was like. He groaned, putting the photo on his desk.

When Tony stepped outside Peter tried to talk to him, but the other man just kept walking. He walked into the kitchen, grabbed a can of beer from the fridge and started to drink it. He sat at the counter, finishing the drink in one. Peter’s face was looking back at him as he put the can down on the side. 

“What’s up, Mr Stark?”

“Not really in the mood for talking, Pete,” Tony told him. 

“Why?” Peter asked, stepping closer. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Peter!” Tony snapped. “Do you not listen?!” 

“Woah,” Peter said, putting his hands up defensively. “Sorry,”

Tony sighed, turning away. He walked over to the living room with his head hung low, jumping onto the sofa. He laid back down onto the cushions, closing his eyes, and tried to lie down in silence. However, all he could hear was the kid on the table (he was talking to himself). He sat up, stared over at the kid who was smiling down at a piece of paper. 

He walked out of the room, not wanting to snap at Peter again. He went for a shower, the hot water burning his skin. He stared at the water droplets as they hit his arm. He pretended he was standing on the outside of the bunker, the rain hitting his hands as he walked through a field with Pepper and Rhodey beside him. He wondered what they were doing and if they were okay. He just wanted one moment with him, even just a phone call. 

Peter knew something was wrong with Tony since the moment they saw each other for the first time that day. Tony had completely ignored his daily good morning and had drank a beer from the fridge for the first time since they got here. The can was on the side, the side of it crunched up slightly from the grip of Tony’s hand. He stared at it, raised his eyebrows, and frowned. He wondered why Tony was so upset; it seemingly coming out of nowhere. 

The day was the slowest. Peter hadn’t spoke to Tony all day (the man had spent most of it in his bedroom). Tony didn’t even come out of his bedroom to cook dinner, so Peter decided to try and do something about it. He took some chicken out of the fridge and went to cut it. He took the frying pan from the cupboard and put some oil in it, getting ready to fry the chicken for a stir fry. 

Peter spent a lot of time on dinner, making it up to be as good as Tony’s creations. It never would be, however, as the man was talented in everything he ever did. He took Tony’s plate to his bedroom, knocking on his door. He got no response so decided to just walk in. Tony was there, his eyes red. It was clear that he’d been crying. 

“M-Mr Stark?” Peter whispered, his gip on the plate tightening. “I made you dinner,”

“Do you not know privacy is?!” Tony shouted, getting up. He pointed at the door. “I don’t want your food, kid, just get out of here. Now.”

“N-No,” Peter shook his head, stepping on his tiptoes to look taller. “You shouldn’t be alone if you’re like this. I-,”

“Now isn’t the time for one of your ‘inspirational’ speeches about being nice and open with your feelings, Peter. I couldn’t care less! Just get out of here, now!” He shouted louder, the anger rising in him. “Leave!”

“Mr Stark-,”

“No, kid! Leave! For fuck sake, just go!” Tony shouted, “I don’t want to say something that I’ll regret so please just leave my bedroom before I do,” a tear fell down his cheek, bringing more attention to his vulnerability. He noticed the kid looking so he turned away towards his bathroom. He walked in, slamming the door behind him. 

Peter went to run after Tony, but the door slamming made him flinch. The plate dropped from his hands, making him drop it on the floor. The fresh food he spent so much time on, that he made to just brighten Tony’s day was covering the carpet instead. He stared at the mess, his own eyes welling up. He let out a sob, trying to pick up some of the glass. He took most of it in his hands, not caring about how it hurt, and threw it Tony’s bin. He left the man’s room with a sob, walking straight over to his own room to collapse onto his bed. He ripped the mask off his face and threw it onto his floor out of frustration. 

Tony Stark was one of the most difficult men that Peter had ever met. The man’s consistency in bottling everything up, only to expand afterwards, wasn’t something that he enjoyed. When he was in a good mood, Tony was the nicest person to be around. Joking around with his childhood hero was the best thing that he could experience. He enjoyed every moment. On the other hand, Tony’s moods were explosive. He was stubborn, refusing to admit that he needed help. He’d isolate himself for as long as it took for the mood to pass. The mood today, however, didn’t seem to be passing. 

Peter was sobbing his room, the tears littering his pillow. He heard Tony shout something, but the sounds of his own crying echoed in his room. He went under the covers, his head hurting as the crying went on and on. 

Tony grabbed one of his bags, throwing it over his shoulder. He needed to get out of here. He stepped over the glass on the floor, throwing things into bags. A stack of paper fell over his floor. Tony froze when he looked down at the designs him and Peter had made the first night, they spent time together. He frowned, a memory of the kid’s laughter in his ears as he remembered all the good times they had. He shook his head, trying to get the thought out of his head.

He opened the bedroom door down into the hallway. The bags on him were heavy as he walked but he didn’t care. He got to the entrance, the long ladder entrancing him to walk up it. He put one hand on it, freezing when Peter’s crying got louder. 

Peter was only nineteen, he remembered. Tony was much, much older. He was old enough to be his father. The bags in his hands dropped to the floor as he thought about his own father; he never wanted to be like him. He stared up at the entrance, sighing.

Tony Stark was only four years old when his father first screamed at him. Tony had made a cool circuit board and he wanted his dad to see what he had done. He walked up to where his dad was in a meeting, opening the door without thinking. Everyone in the room stared at him as he walked up to his dad, putting his circuit board on the table.

“Look daddy!” He smiled, grinning at the man. 

His dad’s face screwed up in anger. He threw the circuit board, that Tony spent so much time on, onto the ground. Little Tony’s eyes filled with tears as his creation smashed onto the wooden floor. He stared it, sobbing, as he tried to pick it all up. He pouted, staring up at his dad who was frowning at him. 

“Why did you think that it was acceptable to come in here and interrupt me, Tony?” Howard glared, shaking his head. “And this whole little tantrum thing? You’re a Stark, kid. We don’t cry,”

“S-Sorry daddy,” Tony hiccupped, taking the broken circuit board downstairs. He spent all evening trying to fix it just in case his Dad wanted to see it later in the day. It was his fault for interrupting him, wasn’t it? The fixed circuit board was on his dad’s bedroom side later that evening, but it was left, never to be mentioned again. 

Howard got worse ever since that moment, resulting in verbal abuse. Tony never felt love. He had never known what it meant to cuddle with his father, he never knew what it felt like to have him be proud. He grew to be the sarcastic, emotionally stunted and stubborn man he was now because of how he was treated.

The thoughts of his father stopped, and he found himself back in the bunker. He left the bags where they were, walking back towards Peter’s room. He stared at the kid’s room. He took a deep breath, thinking through how to apologise. He opened the door and froze in his tracks.

Peter Parker was sat up in his bed, mask-less. His big, innocent, brown eyes met with Tony’s. His eyes went wide as Tony’s jaw dropped. Those were not the eyes of a nineteen-year-old boy.


	7. Not just a kid

Peter stared as Tony looked at him, confused. He thought about moving around the bed to find his mask, but it was too late. He waited for Tony to say something. 

A wave of panic fell over Tony as he continued to stare. “You’re not nineteen.” He spoke. A statement, not a question, because he knew what the answer would be. Peter shook his head slowly. “You’re-,” He started, staring at the boy. His curls were messed up from the pillows, his eyes red from crying. He looked so young; way too young to be in this situation. Tony took a deep breath as he tried not to spiral as he thought about how he acted around this child. “You’re just a child,”

“I’m not just a child, not anymore,” Peter said, but his voice was so quiet. He backed up on the bed, watching Tony’s reactions as he spoke. “I do good things, Mr Stark. I-,”

“How old?”

“I’m…” Peter debated about lying but the truth was right in front of Tony. He couldn’t lie and say he looked young; it was obvious. “Fourteen, sir. Well, I’m like two months away from fifteen…”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Tony said, his voice breaking. As much as he would deny it, Tony had a soft spot for kids and hated seeing them in danger and, most importantly, he had grown close to Peter. Looking at the kid that he had grown to care for, his whole body broke down as Peter admitted he was only a baby (compared to everybody else in the business, at least). “Peter, please,” but Peter looked sheepish, unwilling to say much more. “You’re only fourteen… fourteen-years-old and you-,” 

“Mr Stark, please,” Peter got up from the bed as he slowly walked towards Tony, looking up at him with warm brown eyes. “I-I didn’t want to lie but- but we were getting along so well and-,”

“Pete,” Tony drew a hand over his face, letting out an exhausted sigh. “You’ve barely started high school, you- you have so much time to live. What if you get shot when you’re out as Spiderman? Kid, there’s a lot of evil stuff out there that kids shouldn’t face. You don’t need to ruin your innocence, please,” 

“I already have been shot!” Peter exclaimed, “I know what’s out there already, sir. I’ve seen it all before the bite. I can help people; I can be like you! I know that I’m young but, that doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t just stand on the side-lines and watch people die because I can stop it; I can make a difference!” 

“That’s exactly what you need to do!” Tony shouted. “Stay on the side-lines, Pete. Please! I’ll give you an internship and you can train under my company and become some fancy CEO and-and you can leave all this shit behind, kid,” Tony breathing was rapid, his chest moving up and down as the child in front of him started to cry. Tony’s hand fell on Peter’s cheek before he knew it, trying to calm the kid down. “Sweetheart, don’t cry,”

Peter sniffed, tears falling down his cheeks and landing down on his bedroom floor. He leant into Tony’s touch as if felt like Aunt May. “I can’t, Mr Stark,” He whispered. “I just wanted to be like you, like the Avengers. I’ve saved people and it feels so good,”

“I can’t just let you continue,” Tony mumbled, “I can’t leave you to die out there, Pete. I’ll make you the fanciest, most-protective, suit that we can manage, and you’ll report back to me every single time you go out. I think you should also let your aunt know and-,”

Peter flinched back from Tony’s touch. “No!” He cried, shaking his head. “You can’t- you can’t just meet me here and make me change my whole life! You don’t control me; I can do what I want! My Aunt can’t know, she’s been through so much and she’ll worry, and I need to protect her and all my friends,” Peter rambled, his breathing out of control. His hands were shaking. He flinched back as Tony stepped closer. “Just, stop! Please stop pretending like you give a shit about me-,”

“Peter-,”

“No, just listen! You keep having this argument with me, Mr Stark! It’s not fair! Just because I’m 14, that-that doesn’t mean I’m rubbish at what I do. I can be a superhero! I have these powers and I’m going to use them. I don’t care if you like it or not. I am Spiderman and nothing is going to change that, not even you!” He shouted. 

“Kid…” Tony whispered, scared of how much the kid was flinching from him. “You can’t say that you’ve thought this all through. You’re heading in a direction in which you can’t come back from,”

“I have thought it thro-,”

“No! You haven’t! You’ve had your time to speak, now it’s mine. A battlefield is no place for a child, Peter! You’re still growing, still learning how you fit into the world. This shit, the stuff we do, ruins your brain, kid. I can’t breathe every time I close my eyes because the dark reminds me of how scared I was in space! I can’t take a bath because every time I do, I’m back in the cave in Afghanistan with water down my throat. I can’t even look at the people I love because I’m scared that I’ll wake up and they’ll be killed. That includes you!” Tony yelled, scared of how much this was all bothering him. “Life isn’t a collection of comics and video games; this is real stuff! You’ve already been through some it but, trust me, it just gets worse. So, no, you haven’t thought this through at all!” Tony yelled, his eyes never leaving Peter. “I know I can’t say anything that’ll get you to stop and I don’t want you to, as you obviously care too much about everyone to do so, so the least I can do is make something to protect you. I won’t tell your Aunt, that’s your choice. But it’s a choice I recommend you take.” He looked at Peter with a frown, yet (although he didn’t know it), his eyes were filled with admiration and love for the kid. 

“Would you just stop with that, Mr Stark. Please don’t start looking at me like I don’t know what I’m talking about just because you know my age. Only a few days ago we were talking about everything super-hero related just because I’m fourteen?” Peter sighed, wanting to move away from the other man in the bed. “Please,”

“Peter… you’re not old enough to make your own decisions,”

“Old enough to walk on ceilings and have super strength… I’m not your typical teenager, sir, and I don’t want to be treated like a child when I’m clearly not one anymore. I’ve seen too much to be able to act like everything’s okay…, I don’t see the world in a child’s point of view-,”

“Look, Peter, I’ve been calm with you! You lied to me. You’ve lied to me twice, first with your name and now with your age. How can I trust you? Maybe I should tell your Aunt, huh? I think she’d like to know. I don’t care if you don’t think that you’re still a child, you are one! I think you should’ve just accepted that I’m willing to let you still be Spiderman. I’ve been nice about it, Peter, but I don’t have to be!” Tony’s patience snapped. He stared at Peter as he thought about what to say to him now, as the kid was looking more furious by the second. “I thought we came to an agreement, or a peace settlement, just now. I told you that I’d keep your secret safe but only if you come and work with me; that doesn’t just include the suit.” Tony’s voice grew louder every second. 

“If you just let me out of your arms so I can storm off in anger, that would be great,” Peter said, squirming in Tony’s grip.

“I’m not letting us go to bed angry, Pete. I’m only trying to protect you.”

“Well stop! You’re not my dad, you’re nothing to do with me!” Peter shouted, pushing Tony away. He got from his own bed and went to walk to the living room before stopping halfway through, down to his knees as he sobbed. 

Instead of going to calm him down, Tony walked straight pass him and into the kitchen. He stared at his bags that were still at the door and only then, he realised why he had come into Peter’s room in the first place. Tony put the can of beer down, walking into the living room and frowning as he saw Peter sobbing on the couch cushions.

Peter’s sobbing continued, heavy. Tony sighed, taking a spot on the sofa. Tony sat next to him, hesitantly, as his crying started to calm down slightly. The older man’s arm wrapped around Peter’s shoulders. Peter buried his head in the nook of Tony’s shoulder as his hand rubbed circles in the teenager’s back. Tony’s heart was breaking at the sight. One hand found its way into Peter’s curls. Tony’s hand brushed through his hair, trying to get him to calm down. It was something his own Mother did to him when he was younger after his father said something harsh. “That’s it, Pete. It’s good to get it all out, sweet.” 

“Mr-Mr Stark, I-I don’t want to stop- I love being Spiderman,” Peter cried, with a hiccup. “P-Please don’t make me,”

“I’m not going to, buddy. Okay? Listen to me, I just want you to be safe. Think of yourself as Robin to my Batman, I’m going to help you out. We’ll get you proper training and everything that goes along with that,” Tony explained as he cuddled into the boy. A bit of him froze at the contact, not remembering the last time he held someone like this. But, as Peter snuggled into his arm, he realised he didn’t need to care about showing how much he cared. He kept their contact, turning his head to look at the kid. Before he could stop himself, he leant forward and kissed the kid on the side of his head. Peter turned to face him with wide eyes. Tony simply kept holding him. “I also can’t say that I’m not mad, kid. I’m not going to pretend that I’m happy with this situation and if you were my kid then I’d be grounding you for years… But I know I can’t physically stop you from doing it so…. please just be careful,” 

Peter sniffed. After another moment of silence, Peter started to talk. “Do you h-hate that you’ve actually been living with a fourteen-year-old?” He said, still underneath Tony’s arm. “I hope you still like me, Mr Stark,”

“Regret that I’ve told you things that your little ears probably shouldn’t have heard, yes. Trust me, I’m mortified by some of the stories I’ve told you. Do I regret meeting you? Course not. You’re stubborn, annoying and naïve (at times), but you’re also intelligent, funny and kind. You remind me of a better, optimistic, me. Well, young me.” Tony said, using the end of his sleeve to wipe a tear from the kid’s cheek. “Fury is still going to get some choice words from me. I’m not letting him get away with endangering my favourite young adult,”

“Am I the only young adult you know?” 

“Yeah, so by default you’re my favourite. Also, least I know why you denied my job offer before,” Tony chuckled, finally letting go of Peter. He took the mask off the floor and held it in his hands, frowning. “Can’t believe it was you underneath this all this time,” He sighed, “Are you one hundred percent sure that you want to be Spiderman? Because, kid, you really don’t have to. I, surprisingly, have a lot of pull at Stark Industries and I can make you the next CEO,”

“I’m really sure, Mr Stark,” Peter said, a small, shy, smile on his face as he cuddled into the billionaire, the person he had looked up to all his life…

As Tony looked down at the boy in his arms, the anger he felt remained in his body. This anger was not directed at Peter, far from it, but instead he felt it all bubble towards Shield. The company that forced the best kid Tony knew into the worst possible life he could ever have.


	8. Out and About

Tony’s relationship with Peter only grew since that evening. Seeing the kid walking around without his mask was weird, at first, but he soon got used to it. The kid’s smile was one of the greatest things he had ever seen, wide and bright as soon as he walked into the room. His curls bounced as he walked, messy with no style. His round face and wide eyes just made him look more innocent, they made it harder for Tony to deny how much he had begun to care. When the kid looked at him, he could make Tony do anything with just one look. The fatherly love he felt was strange and nothing like he had ever felt before. 

It took a while for Tony to come to terms with Peter’s real age. He knew he came off as closed-off whenever the kid was around him, but it was only because of his own insecurities. He didn’t want to mess up Peter by scaring him or saying the wrong thing. But, just like days before, he couldn’t spend a long day without the kid. 

It only took one full day for Tony to be right back at Peter’s side. Peter never had to wear his mask from now on so Tony could see just how emotive the kid was. As he talked, his smile was huge as his hands moved all over the place. Although he was still slightly angry that Peter was as young as he is, he couldn’t stay too angry for much longer. Peter, somehow, had him wrapped around his finger.

Watching the kid as he walked across the ceiling (without the mask) was jarring, at first. The kid’s orange was in his hand as he ate, humming to himself. Tony watched with an amused smile as he sat on the barstool. As soon as the kid saw him, he jumped down. His big smile, his laugh, filled the room as he talked about everything from his life. 

Tony laughed harder than he had in a while whilst Peter explained how Ned found out about his identity. The only person in the world who knew, only found out because he had come over to build a Lego set. “Stop laughing!” Peter exclaimed, in fits of laughter himself. “I didn’t mean for him to find out like that, it just happened!” 

“You sure are something else, bud,” Tony laughed.

“That’s a good thing, right?” 

“Course, buddy,” Tony told him, ruffling the kid’s hair with a big smile. 

“Mr Stark… I actually styled my hair today!” Peter grumbled, trying to get out of reach from Tony’s hands. “Let me go,” He giggled. He tried to walk away but was stopped by Tony’s arms again. “Mr Stark!” 

“Hmm, I don’t know if I should,” Tony smiled, just ruffling it more. He stopped, letting Peter go. Peter ran to the living room as they both walked down the corridor. “Hold up, kiddo! I can’t walk that fast,”

“You said that you were in your prime the other day,” Peter said, jumping onto the sofa. 

Tony joined him moments later, sitting down on the sofa next to him. Tony immediately wrapped an arm around his shoulders, placing the film on. “You’re lucky that I like you, kid.” 

Peter fell asleep moments after the film was on. His head balanced onto Tony’s shoulder; his body wrapped around Tony’s. Tony brushed the hair out of the boy’s face and looked down at him. The feeling inside him was warm. This kid was special and when he got out of this place, he wasn’t going to let that feeling go. The feeling made him happy. The feeling he had was one he didn’t want to let go now that he had it. Although he didn’t want to thank the one that threatened the team, he was damn thankful that it led to meeting Peter Parker. 

On the outside of the bunker, Nick Fury sat on a round table surrounded by a bunch of agents. The man who threatened his team, the world’s most valuable assets, was out there and they were close to finding him. A cowardly man named Julian Pope. Standing short and slender with cold-white skin, Julian had a frightening feel about him. His black hair is short and curly, and he usually wears new, elaborate clothes that are mostly white and slightly too small, his eyes are dark and void of any emotion. However, Nick Fury (for as much as he had seen in his life) was not afraid. He lost most of his family in the New York attack and then his own child during an attack in which Spiderman was present. After months of research, he developed powers from a break-in at a HYDRA lab. He spent a few months with the organisations before it went down, becoming strong and powerful. He managed to get the upper hand on Steve Rogers, but Nick Fury knew that he’d have the biggest team on hand to defeat him. They’d soon be able to get them out. It would only take a few more days, they hoped. 

Tony led back on the sofa, Peter in his arms, as they snuggled after watching what felt like their 100th film of the stay. Peter’s head rose up and down on Tony’s chest as he was breathing, listening to the steady heartbeat brought him familiarity and warmth and helped him sleep through the night. Tony eyes flew open, his dreams haunting his mind. As his eyes opened, Peter’s face was soft. The kid had a small smile on his face as he looked peaceful. Tony felt himself drifting back off into sleep, dreams of good times and happy memories floating in his head rather than ones of pain. 

In the morning, Tony found himself sat at the dining problem with a pen tucked away behind his ear. He watched Peter as he scribbled some numbers down on the paper, learning some new maths from Tony. Peter was wearing Tony’s favourite pair of sunglasses, after begging him for hours. Tony cringed as the kid tried to imitate him. The boy was too proud of his impression for Tony to critique it so, instead, he smiled and pretended to be impressed. Peter was far too precious to hurt. However, he still didn’t feel like telling him that. It was too soon; Peter could still leave.

Fury walked in on the two of them like that, with Tony’s sunglasses stuck to Peter’s face as the younger boy pretended that he was at a conference. Fury watched, amused, and waited for the two of them to notice he was there.

Peter turned away, came eye-to-eye with the director of shield, and froze as he realised Nick Fury was standing there. He took the sunglasses off and passed them over to Tony, mortified. His cheeks flushed a deep red as he listened to how Tony laughed, not stopping to quieten down so Fury could start speaking.

“Tony, would you stop laughing so I can actually talk to the both of you,” Fury said, rolling his eyes. “It’s move-out day,”  
==  
As soon as Fury said those words, Peter lit up. He smiled widely over at Tony, an excited look on his face. Tony, however, didn’t look as excited as Peter felt. His whole body went stiff, a frown stitched to his face as he pretended to listen to what Fury was saying. They had twenty minutes to gather their stuff before getting transferred down to the compound to meet up with the rest of the team. 

Peter pulled on his suit, making sure he put the mask on too. He grabbed all his bags and put them over his back. As he walked outside his bedroom, Tony was speaking to one of the agents that had come to protect them as they were moved. Peter walked past them, up to the agent assigned to him. 

Peter walked up the ladder. As the door to the bunker opened, Peter took a deep breath in of the fresh air around him. The wind falling through his body was cold but appreciated. He never knew how much he appreciated grass until his feet touched the ground. The sun was bright, almost too bright, and Peter couldn’t help but look at it for longer than he should’ve. 

Tony joined him only moments later. He looked back at the bunker as the door was shut and was happy that he’d, hopefully, never see the room again. His eyes moved over to Peter as he ran around the grass. He chuckled to himself as he looked at the bewildered agent, confused as to how the kid has so much energy after 2 months, 2 weeks and how ever many days, they were in there. 

Their bags were loaded into two separate cars. Peter frowned as he was shut into one, Tony pulled away into the other. He stared at the scenery as the car moved, in awe of everything he saw. A simple bird flying through the sky had never looked as beautiful as it did in that moment. 

Tony grinned at the sight of the Avengers compound, the building he funded. He saw other cars parked outside and realised him and the kid were the last to arrive. As soon as he got to the doors, he was approached by Pepper and Rhodey. 

“Pepper!” Tony said, stepping forward and pulling her into a hug. “You have no idea how much I missed you, honey,” He whispered, a hand falling into her hair. 

“It’s so good to see you,” Pepper whispered back, only after getting over the shock of Tony hugging her. “You’ve never been much of a hugger; I like this change.”

“Well, what can I say? I met a good kid,” He said, grinning. He pulled apart from Pepper’s grip and turned to his best friend, giving him a hug also. Rhodey’s eyes were wide as Tony pulled away but his smile was still wide, happy to see his best friend in the flesh. “You’ll both love him,” As if on que, Peter approached the group. Tony wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in. “Spidey-kid is the best,” 

“My name’s Peter,” Peter grinned, “Mr Stark has been nothing but a nuisance, I’m incredibly happy to be on the outside,” When Tony glared at him, Peter giggled to himself. “Just joking! I’ve had the time of my life. I beat him in like every board game we made, by the way.”

“He’s also a brat,” Tony mumbled. “Anyway, kiddo, let’s go meet the team and see who we have to battle,” He winked, walking down the corridor with the kid attached to his side. 

Pepper and Rhodey watched, amused. For just one moment, it almost felt as if their best friend/partner hadn’t been in danger for two and a half months. At least he made a new friend, Pepper said, which did make Rhodey chuckle just a bit. 

Tony walked into the room to see his teammates all stood in a circle. He noticed how Bucky stood just a bit closer to Steve, his arm wrapped around the man’s waist in an intimate way. Clint and Natasha were sat down on the sofa, laughing at something. Thor’s voice was booming throughout the room, Bruce staring out of the window looking exhausted. They all turned to look at the two boys that just walked through the door, all grinning as they did so.

“See you got the new kid, Tony,” Clint raised his eyebrows, “Nice to meet you Spider-kid,”

“Yeah, I did,” Tony smiled, “We had the best time out of all of us though,” He added the last bit, watching as the kid ran over to Steve and Bucky. He laughed a little, remembering when he told him that he was a massive fan of Bucky’s metal arm. Tony watched as the kid interacted with the two super soldiers, although he did feel a bit jealous. 

“I win!” Natasha grinned at Clint, putting her hand out. Tony tilted his head in confusion when Clint groaned, putting a twenty-dollar bill into her hand. “We had a bet, Tony, that you wouldn’t be grumpy when you came back. I knew that you’d like Spider-boy, I’ve met him once before and he reminded me of you; you’re pretty much the same person,”

“I wouldn’t say the sa-,”

“You can all catch up later,” Fury said, walking into the room. He got them all to stand in front of him, a serious look on his face. “We’ve located Julian Pope-,”

Before Fury could finish his briefing for their mission, Peter let out a laugh. “Pope? His last name is Pope and he’s evil? That’s like the most ironic thing I’ve ever heard. Shouldn’t he be holy rather than all murder-ry.” He stopped laughing as soon as everyone stared at him. He blushed underneath the mask but, his smile grew quickly as he heard Tony snickering. 

“What?” Tony laughed, “The kid’s right,”

“Not the same, my ass,” Natasha mumbled to herself. 

Fury stared at the group for a few, menacing, seconds before he continued. “We found… Mr Pope. He’s only a few miles from a registered address of his, so we had a few agents stake out the area and sure enough, he was there. You’ll be sent out on two jets and the fight will be hard, but I hope that you can all manage it. From what we know he has powers. We’ve seen, so far, super strength and flight. That’s all, for now. Be careful and good luck,”

In only a few minutes, Tony found himself sat in a jet with Bucky, Steve, Natasha and Peter. Clint, Bruce and Thor were in the other, slightly smaller, one. Peter was sat beside Tony, talking about something he remembered to one of the movies they had watched another day. Natasha was watching them, a fond look on her face, whilst Bucky and Steve kissed in the corner (trying to be secretive). 

“You okay, kid?” Tony said, taking Peter’s hand. He flipped it over and tapped his hand, knowing that it helped whenever the kid was anxious.

Peter looked up at him, the mask still on his face, and nodded. “Just a bit nervous, Mr Stark. I’ve never done a big mission before,”

“You can stay in the jet if you’d like. If anyone yelled at you for it then I’ll beat them up. Because, in all honesty, I want you to stay inside as well.” Tony told him, letting go of the boy’s hand. “You don’t have to do it, sweetheart,”

“I’ve never seen you so soft, Stark,” Natasha said, her jaw slightly ajar as she watched the two of them interact. “And, Pete, he’s right. It’s a dangerous mission and we don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know I don’t have to, Nat,” Peter sighed, “But I want to prove it to you all that I’m good enough. I swear I am!” 

“Nat?” Tony turned to Peter, “how come ‘Nat’ and I’m still Mr Stark?” 

“She was really intimidating when she told me not to call her Miss Romanoff,” Peter shrugged with a laugh. 

“Hmmm, I see how it is,” Tony pouted. He put his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “You are definitely good enough for the team, you’re better than all of us anyway but that doesn’t mean you have to put yourself in danger,”

“I’ll do it. I want to help,” Peter said, much to Tony’s disappointment. 

As soon as they got out the jet, the villain ‘Julian’ noticed that they were around. He flew up to where they landed, not wasting any time. Clint was knocked down onto the floor before he could even draw his bow. Peter swung up to the tallest building as he left, noticing how Tony was quick to stay by his side. The villain focused his time on Steve and Bucky, trying to get an upper hand on the two of them. Peter swung past, working as hard as he could to help the team.

Peter did get the upper hand a few times, using his quick speed and flexibility to dodge bullets that came his way. Tony flinched every time the kid got close to this mad man, making his own job a lot harder than it should’ve been. Steve and Bucky had his back, making sure he stayed focus on the job in hand. But as he did, something happened behind him that could’ve quickly broken him.

Tony’s back was turned, firing lasers down at the villain, when he heard a sharp child-like scream in his ear. He turned around to see Peter free falling through the air after Julian had cut one of his webs. The sight before him took him back to one of Tony’s first panic attacks in the bunker, the one where Peter had fallen to the ground, the one where he failed to save the kid. He put all his energy into getting to the kid, wincing as he bounced of the side of buildings. Moments before Peter hit the ground, he fell into Tony’s arms. 

“You c-caught me,” Peter stuttered, breathing heavily. “Mr Stark, it hurts,”

“Shh kid, save your energy,” He whispered to the boy, holding him tight. “Just keep those big browns open for me, okay? Keep them open, Pete.” When the kid didn’t reply, Tony shook him with some urgency. “Kiddo, please! Please wake up!”

“Mmn- awake,” Peter mumbled, “I’m okay, Mr Stark. B-But you need to put me down and look behind you, I can sense that he’s coming- please,” 

Peter tore himself away from Peter’s grip, clutching his chest as he walked to the side of a building. Tony went to follow him but decided to look behind him first, trusting Peter’s intuition. Sure enough, the man was flying right towards him. “You hurt my kid,” The man said, his fists raised, “It’s all your fault that my family are dead!”

“Yeah? You just hurt mine too, asshole! You think that this vengeance shit is going to make you feel better? It’s not, okay?!” Tony shouted, flying up to come eye to eye with the man. He didn’t feel intimidated at all, his mind too full of anger that Peter was hurt. “It’s not our fault that your family are dead. I’m sorry that they are but that’s not on us!”

“Yes, it is!” He screamed. As he did, however, he was distracted. Thor flew forward, grabbing the man. He put the special, un-destructible, handcuffs around his wrists as he pulled him to the ground. He kicked off, trying to get out of Thor’s grip but he failed. He looked up at Tony, screaming that everything that happened was all his fault. 

Tony sighed a well needed breath of relief as the man was thrown into the back of one of SHIELD’s police cars. He turned to look for Peter but saw nobody there. He was pulled back into the jet, to talk to the team. 

“Where’s my- the kid,” Tony said, as Peter was nowhere to be found. Tony made sure to correct himself as soon as he said ‘my’ as he hoped none of the team heard it. “He was hurt,”

“Peter’s gone home,” Fury said, “His Aunt was getting suspicious and we needed him ba-,”

“He was hurt! He needs to see a doctor; did you not see how far he flew?!” Tony shouted, furious. “His Aunt hasn’t seen him in almost three months, I’m sure one more day wouldn’t hurt! She’s going to be more suspicious of the bruises-,”

“We told her that he had an accident at camp and was being sent back-“

“An accident? Fury, he looked battered!”

“Stark, we’ve got it covered. I need you to leave him alone for a few days. If he’s seen returning, with the bruises, at the exact same time the Avengers are back then his identity could be at risk.” Fury explained, his voice worryingly calm.

“And now you’re telling me that I can’t even got to see him? You can’t be serious!” Tony said, his hands shaking. “You can’t!” 

“Stark. If you don’t do it for me then do it for the kid,” Fury said, getting more frustrated at Tony as it went on. “He’ll be in danger if anyone else finds out who he really is. We’re just trying to help him.” 

“Trying to help? Fuck off, Fury! He’s a kid and you endorsed him going out on the battlefield. Don’t think that I’m not mad about that, I’m furious at you lot. A fourteen-year-old boy and you decide that he should be allowed to fight a man who almost killed Captain America? He’s hurt, probably in immense pain, and you won’t even take him to a doctor! You always make us get a check u-,”

“Stark! You are insufferable! The child is fine and will be fine, he’s getting a quick check up before we fly him home. He will be just fine! You saved him, didn’t you? Good for you guys, kid said that you were his hero but, we don’t need to talk about that now,” Fury shouted. “If you want, I’ll sign you up on a text service to get updates on him.” He said, sarcastically. “Now, just let me update you all on the situation,”

Tony looked around at the room, his chest heavy. A hero, he thought. Peter thought of him as a hero? Some hero he was if the kid dies in his sleep because of injuries... He got up from his spot and stormed out of the room into the nearest bathroom on the jet. He walked inside and bit his lip, trying to stop himself from breaking down in tears. Only 24 hours ago, he had Peter in front of him as they ate dinner and now, he was stood alone in a bathroom as the kid he grew to love was hurt. 

Tony saw a figure walking in behind him from the reflection of the mirror. He turned around to see Steve looking down at him, worried. Tony tried to keep his composure but as soon as he tried to talk, his hands only started shaking faster. He kept his mouth shut, stumbling into Steve’s arms. 

“Tony…” Steve said, quietly. “It’s okay, he’s okay,”

“He’s not! He’s just a little kid and we let him out there, Steve. He could’ve died,”

“Tones, it was his choice. We all know that when someone’s mind is stuck on something, it’s hard to change it. Look at me. I was told no when I signed up to the army and I never gave up, no matter what people said about it. He wasn’t going to stop. Wait for a week and go find him, give him a new suit and some training. It’ll be okay, Stark,” Steve said, stepping back from his friend. 

Tony nodded. “Y-Yeah, you’re right,” He whispered. 

As Tony stared outside of the jet window, he frowned. He thought to how Peter fell, his scream the only thing he could hear. As soon as he could see the kid, he was going to take the opportunity. He needed to see the boy as soon as he could and protect him. As much as he was glad to be out, he didn’t feel happy to be here without Peter sat beside him.


	9. Back at home

Peter stumbled down from the car door to his apartment’s parking lot. He grabbed his bags which were the agents put on the ground. He groaned as he held them up, the pain in his side almost unbearable. He climbed the stairs and opened his door, flinching at the sight. 

Confetti filled the room as he stepped inside. Peter dropped his bags, smiling at the giant banner that was set up on the wall. Three figures in the room shouted surprise at him, making that smile just grow even larger. He looked around to see Ned, MJ and his Aunt May looking at him as he was stuck on his spot. 

“Peter?” May said softly, “Are you okay? Is this too much?”

Peter realised he was crying. He walked over to May and wrapped his arms around her. His crying got louder as she hugged back. “I’ve just m-missed you so much,” He sniffled. 

“Oh, Pete,” May said, rubbing his back. “We all missed you too, so much. Let me know the next time you decide to spontaneously apply for a summer camp,”

“Didn’t think I’d get the spot,” Peter sighed, stepping back. “Didn’t even have time to say goodbye.” He gave Ned a hug, MJ got an awkward handshake (she didn’t like hugs). 

MJ and Ned helped him haul his bags into his room. MJ stared at the two friends for a second, sitting down on the side of Peter’s bottom bunk bed. “So, where were you? There’s no way you were actually at some summer camp, Spidey,”

“Sp-Spidey?” Peter stuttered. “I don’t know where you got that information from? That’s not me. Spiderman’s like so much older and not me at all, like he’s so not me it’s almost funny,”

“You’re a terrible liar and I’m surprised that no-one else has figured it out,” MJ rolled her eyes, chuckling at how shocked the two boys looked. “Firstly, I can see your stupid suit poking out from the bag. Two, you disappeared alongside the Avengers and came back at the same time with a load of bruises. Thirdly, you look incredibly shocked right now because you know I’ve figured you out.” MJ said, shaking her head. “Plus, those bruises. They look bad, Peter.”

“It’s nice to know you care,” Peter deflected from answering, sitting back on his bunkbed next to MJ. As he sat down, he felt a pain in his stomach. He winced as he lifted the shirt up, staring at the large wound on his torso. Fury told him that a doctor would see him before he came home but, nobody had come yet. Peter had super-healing, however, so he hoped that would work for him soon as the pain became insufferable. “I can’t believe you’ve figured it out,”

“Dude,” Ned hissed, “Nobody was supposed to know,”

“Yeah well, now she does. She’s added to a list of people now,” Peter sighed, lying back on his mattress. “I missed you guys,”

“More people know?” Ned asked, “Who?” 

“Tony Stark and Nick Fury, plus a lot of shield agents and the Avengers,” Peter explained, laughing when Ned’s face dropped. 

“Oh my god!” Ned shouted. He put a hand over his mouth immediately, remembering May was in the other room. “Is that where you were? Were you on a secret government mission? That’s so cool, Pete!”

“Well, sort of. Some guy threatened to kill me which isn’t out of the ordinary, but it turns out he was some evil agent from Hyrdra. He managed to hurt Captain America to the point where he was in hospital so, yeah. Remember when we last saw each other? We were in maths when those men in suits took me out of class. They let me know about the threat and the next thing I knew I was in my room packing. Mr Fury brought me into his office at shield. Oh my god, it was so fancy!” Peter explained.

Peter stared the wall as he started to remember how it all went down.

Peter was taken to the fancy office. He sat down on a chair, surrounded by the fanciest interior. His mask was around his face as he looked around. A few people came up to him and shook his hand, excited to meet the famous Spiderman. Peter’s eyes went wide as a gruntled Tony Stark walked out of Fury’s office, glaring at the teenager as he walked past. Peter went to talk to him, surprised to see him there, when he was taken into Fury’s office instead. 

Sitting down on that chair, Peter had never felt more intimidated. The head of a famous Government agency was looking straight at him and Peter had no idea why. 

“You can take your mask off now,” Fury explained. “Nobody can look inside,”

“I’d rather no-,”

“Peter Parker. I know everything about you. You really don’t need that mask on,”

Peter sighed, taking the mask off. He placed it on the desk and stared at the man in front of him, hoping he’d just explain why they had to speak. 

“Peter, we’ve been made aware that there is a threat to your life. Steve Rogers, you know him better as Captain America, has just recovered from an attack from the same man. He’s dangerous and has already been seen near you before. We need to ensure your safety so, therefore, you’ll be living in a safe house for an undisclosed amount of time,” Fury explained, watching the kid’s face fall. “We’ll make up a cover story for your aunt and you’ll be paired up with Tony Stark.”

“I’m going to live with Tony Stark?!” Peter said. He couldn’t help the small smile that came onto his face. “Awesome,” He mumbled underneath his breath, “He’s like my hero. Oh, uh, don’t tell him I said that.”

“No promises,” Fury shrugged. “A car will pick you up from school in a week. Don’t tell your Aunt anything as we don’t want her to know that you’re going anywhere in case she insists that you can’t.”

Peter nodded. He was a bit afraid for his life. He decided not to tell anyone about what was about to happen just in case it put them in danger. When the car showed up a week later, he climbed in with excitement in his stomach. He was about to meet Tony Stark.

He finished his story, grinning slightly at how excited Ned looked. MJ, on the other hand, didn’t look too impressed. Peter just smiled, grabbing his phone and laptop from the bags one of the agents gave him. He turned on his phone to a lot of missed notifications, most of them from Ned. He laughed at the text messages he had received from Ned. His best friend had believed Peter was kidnapped.

“You really didn’t react to me coming home like someone who had been kidnapped,” Peter told him, laughing. 

Ned cheeks flushed a light pink. “It was embarrassing. I came to your apartment, crying, and May just calmly told me you were at some summer camp. I totally didn’t believe her, by the way, and I was about to start a rescue party for you with MJ. I was really worried,”

“We were,” MJ added in a small whisper. “Don’t know what we’d do without you, nerd,” 

“I love you guys,” Peter smiled, just happy to finally be home. 

He waited for hours to hear from Tony again but, he didn’t hear a thing. He completely shut down as soon as he was left alone in his room. He cuddled up into the smaller, less-comfortable, bed and started to cry. He listened to May’s heartbeat, yet he still couldn’t sleep. All he needed was a quick phone call. He should’ve known better. He thought Tony was his friend, almost like a father-figure, but as soon as they beat the villain; he was gone. He felt like he’d been used, more like an asset than someone he cared for. His eyes travelled up his bedroom wall to the poster of Iron Man. He thought about tearing it down but, as he caught himself in the reflection of his phone. What if he was overreacting, he thought as he looked at himself. It was only one night. Surely the man would contact him again.

Tony stood over his phone in the compound, miles away from the kid. He hesitated over the call button on Peter’s contact number, the one he ordered Fury to give him. What if knowing him puts the kid in more danger? They couldn’t just hide in safe house’s all their lives… What if somebody tries to hurt Tony but uses Peter to do so? He couldn’t handle that. So, selfishly, he decided to put the phone down and back in his pocket. He promised himself that he’d make sure to see Peter again but, he couldn’t now…. Not yet anyway.


	10. Midtown Tech's Surprise Guest

When Peter returned to school days later, he was surprised to see that people noticed. He noticed every sideways glance, every whisper in the corridors; everyone was fascinated by the ‘disappearance’ of Peter Parker. People he knew he was at a ‘summer camp’ but nobody knew which one. The fact that Peter’s body was littered with bruises and cuts didn’t help to calm any rumours. His favourite one, so far was said by a senior. The rumour was that Peter joined a gang and was living with them for the last few months. 

As Peter walked down the hallway, he noticed himself limping down the corridor. He groaned through the pain, putting a hand over a wound that was fresh on his torso. The fabric of his T-shirt was irritating it, only making the pain more unbearable. He talked to Ned, trying to distract himself from the pain but, it was too much. He felt as if he was going to collapse any moment. 

His eyes were closed, his breathing steady, as he refused to pay attention. Peter sat next to Ned, leaning on him for support as the whole school was brought into the sport’s hall for an assembly. MJ sat on the other side of Peter, constantly stealing small glances over at her friend as he groaned in pain. She even took his hand at one point. She hoped that he’d react to the touch but, as she feared, he doesn’t. 

The pain shot up his leg, through his torso and up to his leg every time his body moved. The pain feels as if somebody is stabbing him with tiny needles all over his body. It’s concentrated in his stomach, yet he feels it all over. He can still feel the hard concrete of the buildings that hit him as he fell. But the scariest part of it all is that he can’t stop thinking about the feeling as he fell through the sky only to look up and see the Iron Man suit staring back down at him. All he could think is that the man was right; that he wasn’t old enough to do this. He thought about how he’d never see May, Ned, MJ ever again, the last face he’d ever see was going to be Tony. Tony would have to tell everyone who he was, who he could’ve been, and they’d all be so mad. May would collapse, her tears would stream down her face, she’d beg for Peter to come back but he wouldn’t be able to. 

Just as Peter’s thoughts picked up, the panic that he started to feel turned into shock as he noticed a very familiar face walking into Midtown’s sports hall. His eyes were open, staring, and they met Tony Stark’s immediately. 

The outfit that Tony was wearing was very different to what Peter was used to. The ACDC shirt Tony wore now and again was replaced by a three-piece-suit, something that looked more expensive than Peter would ever believe possible. His mouth was curled into an uncomfortable frown, his obnoxious sunglasses protruding over his face. Peter knew that the man was staring right at him but, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He leant into the worried touch of Ned, letting his eyes shut. 

Tony stared at the kid. Something was up with him, he knew it. The panic he felt was evident in the way his hands shook as he talked to the principal. He heard kid’s whispering about why he was in the hall as they all finished walking in, yet he didn’t care. All he could think about was Peter. His kid. 

He did a little speech before being ushered to a seat beside the headmaster as he finished the assembly. Tony met some of the kids, hoping Peter would join the queue to get an autograph so that they can speak. However, in the corner of Tony’s eye, he watched as the kid walked out of the double doors; without sparing a glance back at him. 

Peter rushed to his next class, not wanting Tony to find out about his injuries. He sat down on his usual desk, knowing he wouldn’t be able to stop Tony from following him in. He glanced over at the door and saw a crowd of his teachers. He knew, in that moment, that meant Tony was coming to his class. It couldn’t just be a coincidence. 

Tony walked in, up to Peter’s desk. He took his sunglasses off and placed them in his suits top pocket. “Peter,” He said, the admiration clear in how he spoke. “Hey, kiddo. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

Peter knew that all his classmates stared as soon as Tony opened his mouth. He didn’t even need his spider sense to tell him that. Peter glanced over at MJ and Ned and then back at Tony. “I wouldn’t say that a week is a long time, Mr Stark,” He said, letting the smile grow on his face. It was hard not to smile when he around Tony. 

“Well… Without my favourite campmate? A week feels like forever,” Tony smirked, keeping up the lie that SHIELD told the school. “Peter here was incredible in my new summer camp, he helped out a lot,” He added, addressing the class. He took Peter’s backpack in his hand, chuckling at how the kid looked at him. “I needed to come and get you. I couldn’t let my favourite genius go without offering an internship. I’m a very busy man, Peter. I needed to talk to you now and your headmaster was more than willing to let you out of school for the afternoon.” If anyone asked, he wouldn’t let them know that he had cleared his whole schedule. He didn’t care about anything else, he needed to see if the kid was okay as soon as possible. His mind wouldn’t be settled until he knew the kid was okay, until he saw the kid’s little face lighting up at everything he said. 

Peter gulped, his leg bouncing from how anxious he felt. “Well, um- that’s… cool.” His voice was as small as a whisper as he stood up from his seat. The pain in leg wouldn’t have been obvious if Tony hadn’t lived with him for three months but, as soon as he started to walk, he could tell that Tony was worried. 

A few moments later, when the two boys were walking down the corridor (alone), Tony stopped Peter near the school doors. He placed one hand on Peter’s left shoulder, the other hand cupping the kid’s cheek. He moved the boy’s face around and squinted as he tried to see what was wrong. “You okay, Pete? Something’s wrong.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peter said. The pain, however, was too much to handle. As soon as Tony let go and walked on, expecting Peter to follow, Peter collapsed onto the floor. 

Before Peter fell, he felt the floor swaying underneath him. His vision was blurry as he looked at the older man walking. Tony turned into more of a blob as the door’s shut. Peter tried to scream for help, but no words came out. Then, before he knew it, his cheek hit the cold, dirty, floor of his school. The sound of his fall echoed against the walls but, it made hardly any noise at all. The darkness came soon after that. Peter couldn’t see a thing, or feel a thing, but before he could worry; he lost consciousness. 

Tony looked over his shoulder, expecting to see Peter there. He started to panic. Rushing back into the school’s doors, his heart froze. He stared at the body on the floor. He knew what he needed to do, but the sight of the boy laid on the floor scared him. He stood still for a few moments before he rushed to the kid’s side. He propped a hand underneath his head, his heart stopping as the kid didn’t look back up at him. The shake of his hands meant he couldn’t keep Peter still. Peter’s hair flew all over the place as Tony shook his shoulders. A school bell rang in Tony’s ears, but he ignored it.

The other students knew something was off about Peter Parker. But seeing Tony Stark call an Iron Man suit to their high school as he was stuck to their other student was something they never thought would happen. Peter was held in the mechanical arms of the suit, the faceplate only focusing on Peter’s face, the boy’s eyes still shut tight. If somebody stood closer, they’d hear the cries of Tony Stark as the man begged for Peter to wake up. Before anybody could move in the hallway, the sounds of the jets filled the room. The suit flew up and suddenly, the two of them were gone. 

Tony called the med-bay ahead of time. Tony dropped the kid onto a hospital bed and was ushered out of the room, still dressed in the suit. He stepped outside, out of the suit, and stared through the glass of the room. None of the doctors seemed to work in urgency, he caught words of ‘fainting’, ‘open wounds’. His mind was scrambled as he looked, he didn’t know what was going on. 

“That’s the kid?” A voice said, the sound a door shutting coming only moments after.

Tony slowly turned to face the new person in the room. He came face to face with Rhodey, the man’s familiar face bringing him back into the world. He sighed, sparing a glace back through the glass and then straight back to his best friend. “That it is, my honey bear,”

“You really care about him, don’t you?” Rhodey said. He turned around to face the kid. “He’s so small. How young is he?”

“Too young, unfortunately,” Tony sighed. “Kid’s only fourteen. Friday told me he’s fifteen soon, told me as soon as I looked him up.” Tony felt insecure as the eyes of his best friend burned into the side of his face. “I know what you’re thinking, Rhodey,” 

“I’m not saying anything, Tony,”

“I know. You’re thinking it. I don’t- I’m not freaking out,” Tony said, pushing his hands in the pockets of his blazer. “Peter- He’s- He’s a good kid, I’m scared for him. I’m not scared for me. I’m fine,” Tony took a deep breath, watching everyone around them. “I’m fine,” He repeated, only trying to convince himself. 

“It’s okay for you to feel like thi-,” Rhodey started, his words broken off as the doctor walked out of the room.

“Is he okay?” Tony asked.

“Peter will be fine. He’s just asleep, for now. He fainted due to a good deal of pain. He had some open wounds, some nasty bruises, and the pain he felt made him collapse. We’ve given him some pain relief, cleans some of the wounds up. He’ll be okay,” The man explained. 

Tony nodded, rushing past him to go and sit on a chair next to the hospital bed. He took Peter’s hand in his and watched as the boy’s chest went up and down. His breathing was soft, it was there. The kid was alive. He was okay. He was here.


	11. Back Together

All Peter could see was the dark. He saw nothing surrounding him. It was empty, scary and lonely. When the dark finally faded, he opened his eyes. He squinted at the light around him. He sat up in the bed he was in, scared. He had no idea where he was. Looking around, he saw Tony asleep on a chair. His eyes widened at the sight. He jumped out of the bed and started to walk. However, the pain he felt in his stomach made him freeze on the spot.

“P-Peter?” Tony yawned, his eyes blinking open. He sounded sleepy, like he hadn’t had enough sleep in a while. “Pete? Get back into your bed, you’re hurt,”

“I need to go home,” Peter said, with a frown. “My Aunt- she,”

“She knows where you are. Told her and the school that you’re working in an internship,” Tony said, standing up. He took Peter’s hand and pulled him back into the bed, tucking him into the covers. “Please stay still, you’re hurt. Listen to me.”

Peter nodded, letting his head hit the pillow. He looked up at the ceiling before eventually turning his head towards Tony. He let a smallest smile form on his face as he saw Tony’s smile. “Why am I here?” Peter whispered, “Everything hurts,”

“Fury’s doctors are getting sacked, that’s why you’re here. They obviously didn’t check up on you well enough after the fight. You had some nasty open wounds all over your body, bruises up and down your body. You collapsed from the pain you felt, kiddo,” Tony cupped the kid’s cheek with his hand, his thumb stroking the kid’s cheek lovingly. “I was worried, sweetie.”

“N-Nobody checked up on me, Mr Stark,” Peter whispered, “They just took me home. It hurt so much, and I-I was so scared.” He admitted what happened with a frown, leaning into the touch of Tony.

Tony’s touch reminded him of how his Aunt comforted him, how his Uncle would hold him before he tucked him into bed. He looked into the eyes of the older man; the man he had only met three months prior. The man sitting there, his idol, held him as if he were in own kid. He knew it should be wrong to think Tony was like his father, but it felt like that. It felt like they could be like that.

“They didn’t?” Tony said, sitting back. He pursed his lips, anger soaring throughout his body. He resisted the urge to rush downstairs; to call Fury and shout at him until his throat was hoarse and dry. But he didn’t. Instead, he sat back and shook his head. “Jesus, that man is something else. I will be having some choice words with him, kiddo. Trust me, however, I’ll be here for you. If you ever need a hand, someone to talk to, I’ll be here,”

“I love you, Mr Stark,” Peter whispered.

Tony’s whole body froze as soon as the words left Peter’s mouth. His heartrate sped up. He heard the pounding in his ears; it was the only thing he could hear. He knew Peter could hear how it sped up, making him anxious. He took a slow intake of breath, steadied his breathing and looked at the innocent wide eyes of the boy in front of him. How someone so innocent, so pure, could love him was something he couldn’t comprehend. He couldn’t be anything like a father, it just wasn’t in his nature to do so.

Tony’s thoughts were shut off when he heard Peter’s voice again. “M-Mr Stark?”

“I love you too,” Tony said, before he could think too much about it. “I do, kid. I do and it scares me so damn much. You’re like a son, to me, and I’ve only known you for three months. You mean a lot to me, Pete. I think you always will.”

“That’s good,” Peter whispered to himself. He closed his eyes and placed his head onto the pillow. “Same with me, M-Mr Stark,” He added before letting himself fall into a deep sleep.

“That’s music to my ears, Pete,” He whispered, placing a kiss on the top of Peter’s head, before getting up and leaving the room to go to sleep in his own bed; a peaceful night sleep for the first time in a long time.

Peter was up and okay hours later, walking around Tony’s lab. He called May, letting her speak to Tony, and asked if she’d come pick him up. She accepted. When else could she drive to the most famous tower in America? She might even meet Black Widow, her own personal hero, if she was lucky.

Peter’s legs were rested on his desk, his back leant in the chair with wheels that Tony gave him when they first walked in. One of Tony’s oversized lab coats was over his shoulders, a pair of lab goggles on his face. Tony was showing him something from his desk. The hologram spread across the room. It was the most astonishing thing. Peter’s eyes were wide as he looked in every direction, checking out each part of the designs.

As soon as Tony got back from the fight, he had walked straight into his lab and started to work on a new suit for Peter. He had made about five different designs and each one had more safety options in it than the previous. He needed to know that Peter could be the safest possible.

The first suit he made was up on Peter’s desk, ready to be tried on. Peter did just that. He took the suit into the bathroom and put it on. It was incredible. A brand-new AI in his mask, new forms of webs and even protection from gunshots. When he came out of the bathroom to show Tony; he climbed up the walls of the lab and sat on the ceiling and grinned down at Tony who laughed at him.

“You really like those ceilings, don’t you?” Tony laughed, “Come down here, kiddo. I need to see if it fits properly,”

“It fits awesome!” Peter shouted, jumping down. He landed just in front of the man. He gave him a twirl, laughing as Tony’s head knocked back in a giggle.

Tony checked the suit, making sure it was all good. It was all perfect so when Peter got back into normal clothes, he put the suit into his backpack to take it home. When May arrived at the compound, she parked up at the side of the road and lowered her sunglasses at the sight of her nephew standing next to Tony Stark; the man’s arm was wrapped around his shoulder.

“Hey Pete, hello Mr Stark,” May said, stepping out of the car door.

“It’s Tony. I want at least one of your family to call me by my name,” He grinned, dropping his arm from Peter and raising it to shake May’s hand. “He’s my favourite intern. You’ve raised a brilliant boy, May.”

“That I have, Tony,” She replied, taking the man’s hand. “Thank you for taking him in. This internship is going to be great for his college. It’ll help us get a scholarship for him as money’s tight,” She let go of Tony’s hand, putting her arms out defensively when Peter glared at her. “What? I’m simply telling the truth, Pete. So sorry for embarrassing you in front of your idol; the man that I’ve had to buy countless number of posters of throughout the years. It’s nice to meet you in person, Tony, I’ve definitely seen enough of you.”

Peter’s face flared up in a blush as Tony began to laugh. He turned to the kid with a grin, “Is that so? This is definitely the first time I’ve heard about this.”

“Ignore her, Mr Stark. I don’t know who this woman is. I think you should call security as she has broken into your tower,” Peter said, laughing when May shook her head with a big grin. He walked up to her and wrapped his arms. “Just kidding, I love her very much,” He added. “I will find a way to embarrass you,” He whispered in her ear so that Tony couldn’t hear.

Working in Tony’s lab was something that happened a lot more since that day. It was his favourite pass time. Being in the room with Tony reminded Peter of how they met; how they grew to be such good friends. It wasn’t unusual for the workers in Stark Industries to see a young boy walking past them with a tool or two in his hands, usually catching up to their boss, Tony Stark. Tony was never seen without a smile whenever Peter was in the building, their relationship just made everything better.

Tony was in a meeting with some people in Shield, leaving Peter in the lab alone. The boy’s head had hurt all day, the pounding in his brain overwhelming him. He knew that Tony noticed he was struggling, basically mothering him all day. He told Peter to stay out the lab, he told him to stay in the bedroom he made for him. Peter, however, completely ignored his advice and walked down to the familiar lab, looking at the holograms displayed in front of him.

Thirty minutes into the most boring meeting of his life, Tony was interrupted by Friday’s voice coming through the speakers. The alert came through everybody’s ears and Friday sounded the most human she ever had, concern flowing through the robotic noise. “Peter Parker is currently in distress, sir,” She said, “I believe he is currently having a sensory overload,”

“A sensory overload?” Tony asked, looking over at Bruce. “Explain, if you’d please,”

“Not that kind of doctor, Tony,” He mumbled, shaking his head. “But I have, luckily, heard of those. They’re quite rare. It’s when the body’s senses get overwhelmed. I assume that it comes with Peter’s abilities. His super hearing probably gets too much and now he won’t be able to focus on much; it’ll feel like his brain is mush,”

Tony got up from his chair. “If you’d excuse me, the kiddo needs my help,” Tony smiled at the group of people, saluted, and walked out of the room, leaving behind a group of people to continue a meeting he had no interest in.

Walking down to the lab, Tony didn’t know what to expect. What he didn’t expect, however, was Peter bent over one of the tables with his hands over his ears, tears streaming down his face. Tony’s concern spiked immediately, rushing over to the boy as quick as he could.

“Buddy?” He said, putting an arm on the boy’s shoulder.

“Too much!” Peter whimpered, “I-It hurts!”

“What hurts? Peter?” Tony said, “The light? The noise? You’ve got to help me out here, kid, so I know what I can do for you.”

“Everything!” Peter cried out, “It’s too bright! Too noisy! My head feels like it’s being c-crushed,”

“Fri- turn the lights down, if you’d please,” Tony said, moving towards his cupboard as the intensity of the lights turned down. He fished out a pair of noise cancelling headphones and put them over the boy’s ears. “That better?”

Peter nodded, sitting down at the desk. He shut down the hologram and stared at Tony as the man knelt in front of him. Tony wiped some of his tears and brushed some of his hair out of his face. He smiled up at Peter. “See what I mean about not working in the lab when we’re in pain?” When Peter let out a little laugh, Tony’s heart fluttered. “Kiddo, you need to take care of yourself. Those powers might be good for crime fighting but they won’t be so good if they’re hurting your head every night.”

“Don’t say ‘I told you so’, Mr Stark. That’s so not cool,” Peter quipped, groaning as he moved his head; the headache still persisting for a while.

“Well, I did tell you so. It’s wrong to lie, Mr Parker,” Tony said, standing up. He leant forward and pressed a kiss to the kid’s forehead. “Stay there, Pete. I’m just going to get you a glass of water.”

“Th-Thanks for caring, Mr Stark,” He whispered.

“Oh, Pete, I always will.”


	12. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a short ending but... I hope you still enjoy!! Thanks to everyone that has liked and commented!!! It makes me smile so much to see that people actually like reading what I write!!!🙂

Sitting in a compound with all the Avengers wasn’t something that Peter thought would ever happen. Being threatened and forced into a safe house wasn’t something he should’ve been thankful for but sitting in front of the team brought a happiness over him, a happiness that made his life better.  
  
Tony’s arm was wrapped around his shoulder, his face lit up by a ray of sun coming in from the window. His head was tilted back in laughter by something Steve said. Peter’s grin matched his, his body leaning into Tony’s. He talked to Ned on facetime moments prior, the two of them laughing at Ned’s rambling, talking to his hero with shock written all over his face. Steve told a joke about the kid’s worship, told Peter it reminded him of how the kid reacted to Bucky and him when they first met.  
  
May eventually found out about Spiderman. She figured it out after seeing Iron Man and Spiderman on screen, acting eerily like how Tony and Peter did whenever the man came over for takeout (May never trusted her own cooking). When Peter came home with bruises in areas where the hero had been hit, it wasn’t hard to decode what was happening.  
  
Tony hadn’t been afraid of anyone like he was with May Parker. He thought he had seen anger, but after seeing the way she yelled made him almost cower back into the wall he was standing in front of. Keeping Peter’s secret was a burden he didn’t want to intrust on her but, she just made things better once she knew.  
  
May’s involvement with Spiderman brought the trio closer. May spent nights over at the tower when Peter was on missions, took care of the team with Pepper, and a few others, when they returned. Tony pretended not to notice how close she got with Happy. He was just happy for the two of them.

When she found out that the director of shield left her boy with injuries, she flipped. Tony backed her up, taking her down to his office so that she could yell directly at the man.

Nick Fury was a stern man. He was never really frightened of much. Tony never seemed to make him fear him. May Parker, however, was a forced to be reckoned with.

“How dare you leave a child to suffer! I should have you imprisoned!” She screamed, loud enough for every employee to hear (if they didn’t have soundproof walls and an identity to keep secret).

“I didn’t- I was told-,” 

“You were told? That makes it so much better, doesn’t it Tony?” She said, looking over at the moment. Before he could answer, she kept talking. “No. You’re a leader, Mr Fury. Your job is to make sure that everything is working smoothly below you. You should’ve gone to see that Peter was okay. I’m frankly disgusted.”

Tony laughed at Fury’s face. He decided to add some words himself. “I trust you, Fury. Ii begged to see Peter, to see if he was okay! You told me to stay back, that you had it handled. That was obviously a lie.” 

Fury sat on his chair, his hands gripping the sides. His eyes were wider than usual. His usual smirk was more of a frown. “I am sorry to you both. I’m glad Peter’s okay now but-,” 

“What’s going to happen next time?” May said, crossing her arms. She interrupted the man, not caring about what he had to say. “Come on, Fury, tell me.”

“I’ll make sure Peter Parker has the best doctors check him over after every mission, even if he shows no symptoms of harm,” He said, his voice smaller than usual.

“Damn right you will,” She said, exiting the room. 

“I agree with everything she just said,” Tony told him, following the woman and shutting the office door behind him.

If the two adults shared a quick high five before going back to their respective homes, nobody had to know.  
  
The love Tony Stark had for Peter was the most he had felt for anyone since Rhodey, Happy and Pepper. Letting two other people in his heart, May and Peter, had been hard at first, but he loved how it felt. He had never been happier.  
  
Tony stood in front of the bars and came eye to eye with ‘Julian Pope’. Julian was stood, grinning at him. Tony just crossed his arms, shaking his head. “Came here to thank you, Pope,”

“Thank me? I ruined your life,” The man spat, his hands holding the bars. He glared at him, trying to get closer but Shield’s secret prison hits him back, the bars covered in magic from Asgard.  
  
“Oh, but did you? Thank to you, Pope, I met someone I really loved. He made my life better, even more fulfilling. Your twisted plan to kill all of us, to hurt me and my team, had just made everything better,” He told him, a smirk growing on his face.  
  
“But I wanted you ruined, I threatened to kill you! You were meant to suffer!”  
  
“But I didn’t,” Tony grinned. He turned around, waved at the man and gave him a wink behind his shoulder. “See you later, Pope,”  
  
Tony drove back to the house days after that. He sat in his expensive car, the outside of it now covered in mud. He sat by the wheel, staring at the hidden door. He smiled at it, the memories of the time they spent in there coming back to his mind. Peter smile, his laughter, his mind. His boy, the one that held a space in heart. Their relationship came from the house he had been forced into. If he could go back in time, he’d never change a thing. Being in a small house, closed in for three months, wasn’t something he’d recommend but if meant meeting someone so special; he’d do it three times over.  
  
As he drove away, he drove past Peter’s school. He parked up next to parent’s cars, his fancy car standing out like a sore thumb. He stepped outside and into the school’s hallway, walking towards the hall. He took the closest seat, sitting next to somebody he didn’t know with sunglasses over his face; an attempt to hide his identity.  
  
Peter sat, anxious, on a seat on the school’s stage. His academic decathlon jacket was wrapped around his shoulders as he looked at his Aunt. The door opened only moments before the event started. He looked over, watching as Tony stepped into the hall. Their eyes met, familiar smiles forming.  
  
Peter never knew anybody quite like Tony Stark. From a young age he idolised the man he had grown to love, the man he could almost call a father. He was arrogant and selfish on the outside but everything he knew from the media was wrong. Tony was everything but that. He was loving, kind, sweet and funny; he was the best parent that Peter could ever ask for. He could never replace his mother, his father or his uncle, but he loved Tony. He couldn’t be happier that his life was threatened as it led him to meet Tony.


End file.
